The United States and the Chinese currency reform, 1903-1914

This dissertation traces the history of the American efforts to influence the process and direction of China's currency reform from January 1903, when the Qing government requested American assistance in devising a feasible plan to bring about a stable exchange between the Chinese currency and gold, to the eve of World War I. It examines the American role in the reform and its relationship with the larger American goal in China.; In 1904, the United States designed a monetary reform plan for China based upon its successful experience in the Philippines. It urged the immediate introduction of the gold exchange standard. This step aimed at expediting the realization of an open and integrated global economic system based upon efficiency and productivity, which favored the nation with the highest productive power. The whole scheme was built upon the conviction that the Chinese were incapable of successfully resolving their own fiscal problems in ways consistent with U.S. goals. Therefore, the United States insisted on American supervision of the process of China's currency reform through an American adviser. The Chinese rejected the American plan due to deep-rooted ideological and cultural beliefs, prejudices and political and economic considerations. The major Western powers, especially Great Britain and Russia, objected to the American plan because of their reluctance to sacrifice immediate financial interests for the "Open Door." The final result was a compromise between Chinese intentions on one side and the powers' preferences on the other. The United States was forced to abandon its "radical" plan that would bring itself immediate and long-term political and economic benefit. In exchange for the powers' cooperation in China, it supported joint foreign supervision of the Chinese currency reform based on the silver standard through a joint currency loan to China. However, a four-power supervised Chinese currency reform was never a reality because of the outbreak of the 1911 Revolution. The American withdrawal from the six-power consortium in March 1913 was an anticlimax to a promising beginning, but it by no means ended the saga of American crusade for the Chinese currency reform.