ABSTRACT
THE more recent history of the West with China may be conveniently divided into three periods. The first, which ended about 1900, has been identified by the late Lord Salisbury with the scramble for concessions. A Chinese writer has called it the “era of unashamed theft.” It was mile-stoned by the various leasing arrangements, as those of Kiao-chau, Wei-hai-wei, Port Arthur and the Chinese Eastern Railway. The second period was one of concentration, when the various Powers took stock of their situation and endeavoured to diplomatically strengthen their positions. Marked by the Anglo-Japanese Alliance and the Russo-Japanese War, it eventually resulted in the Powers tacitly, if not actually, conceding to Japan the leadership of Far Eastern affairs. The third period, sometimes described as that of the policy of spheres of influence, was really one of beneficent theft. Under the euphemism of preserving China vast stretches of that Empire were to all practical purposes lopped off and pocketed by the various Powers, though nominally still adhering to the Chinese system. This was the period of Japanese domination.
