On China And America's Boxer Indemnities To Sponsor Education

This thesis ,according to the USA's different attitude and reaction from the big powers like Germany, France, Japanese , Russia in and after the negotiation, analyses the cause, process, driving force, historic influence and appraisal of quality of Boxer Indemnities to sponsor education.In order to carry out its Open Door Policy and preserve its own interests, the USA showed different attitude from the then big powers. Instead of demanding more compensation, it proposed keeping within Qing government's limits to avoid the finance collapse or turbulence in China. However, the Qing representatives rashly accepted the offered amount of compensation, and did not strive for it being reduced. Therefore, what the big powers got greatly exceeded what they lost during the war, the USA included.The US government intended to returned the overcharged part to China after the Peace Treaty of 1901. So in a negotiation with Liang Cheng, one Chinese ambassador to the United States, the then Secretary of State John Hay indicated that China had compensated too much. After reporting it to the Qing government ,Liang Cheng immediately conducted an investigation to gather the related evidence, and at the same time made great efforts to get support from all social circles. Affected by Liang Cheng, the education, research, and the politics circles, President Franklin Roosevelt decided to return the overcharged compensation to China. And compelled by the US government, the Qing government had to spend the returned funds in sending Chinese students to study in America.There are several reasons for American remission of Boxer Indemnity to sponsor education. In the USA, it is because of its anti-colonial policy. In addition, it also wanted to improve the damaged image in China's boycotting American merchandise, to ease up the Sino-American relations, and to safeguard its entire interests. In China, it is because of accordance with China's policy and interest and the efforts of Liang Cheng and other diplomats, as well as the backing of all successive governments.The remission of Boxer Indemnity to sponsor education has a far-reaching influence. It greatly changed the direction of studying abroad in the late stage of Qing Dynasty; it greatly improved the Sino-American relations; it alleviated Qing's heavy load of compensation by arousing in China a series of movements aimed at asking for the overcharged part of money ,and by enlightening a clear understanding of the unjust compensation and setting off a wave of paying it back in the world; it developed China's science and education; moreover, the returned students from the USA introduced and advocated the western ideals, like democracy, freedom, human rights and legal system, and criticized the autocracy of the Northern Warlords and Kuomintang , which spread the contemporary democratic ideas, and also speeded up China's politicalization and democratization.Historically and nationalistically, this event shouldn't be negated as a means of cultural aggression. The big powers'contact with China was on the whole unequal and aggressive. Nevertheless, they really did something beneficial to China, or at least beneficial to themselves and unharmful to China, such as the Remission of Boxer Indemnity to sponsor education in China. We should draw a clear distinction in our studies.