American Government And Politics Of The Late Qing Dynast(1901-1912)

The first eleven years of the 20^th-century were a turning epoch of centuries, as well as a period of great transition in world history. Considering so much work has been done on the relations between the United States and China in this period, this dissertation will focus on the relations between the American government and China's internal affairs. Concretely, this dissertation covers the following subjects: 1) to examine the attitudes and reactions of American diplomatists and the American government to the administrative and politic reforms in the late Qing dynasty; 2) to reveal how the American government suppressed the conservative and anti-foreign political factions and supported pro-foreign and open political factions, so as to extend its influence on the internal affairs of China; 3) to explore the contradictions and conflicts or cooperation between the American government and the Qing's government on the issues of customs duties, mining, currency, trade ports and intellectual patents; 4) to examine the observations of the Taft's Administration on the political situation of China on the eve of the Revolution of 1911 and its attitude and reaction towards the uprising of Wuchang, the comeback in power of Yuan Shikai, the abdication of the Qing Emperor , to show the reasons why the American government remained neutral among the different political factions of China during the change of China's political power in the years of 1911-1912. This was related to the political situation of China and the World at that time , and also connected in some way with the tradition of isolationism, the Open-door policy and public opinion of the United States. Through the above examinations, this dissertation will re-examine the effects of the principle of Open-door on American policy towards China and its execution, summarize the role and influence of the American government in the transition of China's state. I hope this dissertation will make a breakthrough in the study of combining the internal affairs of the Late Qing with its diplomacy and afford the current Sino-American relations useful lessons.