Historical Studies (Chinese Edition)

No.3, 2013

 

Xu Shoupeng and the Transformation of China-Korea Relations in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century            

(Abstract)

 

Chen Shangsheng

 

In 1899, the Qing government and the Korean Empire signed the "China-Korea Treaty of Commerce", establishing a new mode of political relations between the two countries. As China's plenipotentiary representative in the trade negotiations and the first Minister to Korea, Xu Shoupeng urged on the completion of the treaty on the basis of international law and the immediate needs of China and Korea. In handling civil affairs and border disputes between the two nations, he skillfully used the wording of the treaty to set out and protect China's interests while preserving the overall situation in relations between the two sides. In his diplomatic activities with Korea, Xu adhered faithfully to the basic principles of national "sovereignty" and "equality" of international law, thus realizing quite successfully the pursuit of national interests as laid down in the goals of diplomacy at the time. Both the changing relations between China and Korea, demonstrated in the treaty, and the distinctive features of Xu’s diplomatic activities as Chinese minister to Korea indicate that in 1899 the Qing dynasty and the Korean Empire had basically completed the transformation from their traditional relationship of "suzerain and vassal" to modern diplomatic relations.