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Chinese Exclusion Act
Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, and it was signed by President Chester A. Arthur. The Act suspended Chinese immigration to the United States for ten years, which violated the spirit, if not the letter, of the 1868 treaty. -
Rock Springs Massacre
A mob of white residents of Rock Springs, Wyoming, launched an attack on Chinese miners in the area on September 2, 1885, killing 28 and destroying their property. -
Geary Act
It was an act to prohibit the coming of Chinese persons into the United States. The Geary Act was a United States law that extended the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 by adding onerous new requirements. It was written by California Congressman Thomas J. Geary. -
First Sino-Japanese War
Japanese and Chinese clashed over Korea and Japan emerged with the victory. Japan took control of Taiwan and established colonial rule over the island, and also gained several new privileges in China including the right to build factories. The United States gained this right as well, through the most favored nation principle, but at the same time it lost its rights in Taiwan -
Hundred Days Reform Movement
Chinese joined Guangxu Emperor in an effort to bring about change (because they felt they were in danger), but conservatives within the imperial court, including the Empress Dowager Ci Xi, opposed these measures. They seized the Emperor and placed him under house arrest and arrested and executed several literati while others fled into exile. There was no immediate impact on U.S.-China relations, but the triumph of conservatives in China made treaty revision much less likely in the near future. -
Open Door Policy
For the protection of equal privileges among countries trading with China and in support of Chinese territorial and administrative integrity; created by Secretary of State John Hay and was then dispatched to the major European powers. -
Boxer Rebellion
Society of the Righteous and Harmonious Fists led an uprising in northern China against the spread of Western and Japanese influence there. The Boxers besieged the foreign district of Beijing until an international force that included American troops subdued the uprising. -
Korean War
The Soviet-backed North Korean People's Army invades South Korea. The United Nations and the United States rush to South Korea's defense. China, in support of the communist North, retaliates when U.S., UN, and South Korean troops approach the Chinese border. As many as four million people die in the three-year conflict until the United Nations, China, and North Korea sign an armistice agreement in 1953.
