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China until 1950

In 1931 General Yorita watches the entry of Japanese assault troops into Manchuria.

In 1931 General Yorita watches the entry of Japanese assault troops into Manchuria.
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During the first half of the 20th century the empire in China exercised economic power without formal political control. The major exception was Hong Kong, which had been a British Crown Colony since 1842.

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British interests until 1918

Cabinet Memorandum. Treaties of Washington Bill. Memorandum by the First Lord of the Admiralty. 17 May 1922 (PDF, 2.229MB)

Nationalism: Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang

Cabinet Memorandum. The Present Position in Regard to the China Customs Tariff Conference at Peking. 30 July 1926 (PDF, 10.237MB)

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Cabinet Memorandum. Negotiations with the Chinese Government for the abolition of Extra-territoriality. Memorandum by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. 27 April 1931 (PDF, 4.064MB)

Cabinet Memorandum. Negotiations with the Chinese Government for the abolition of Extra-territoriality. Memorandum by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. 2 June 1931 (PDF, 1.840MB)

Cabinet Memorandum. China. Note by the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the President of the Board of Trade. 29 September 1936 (PDF, 3.439MB)

Japan invades

Cabinet Memorandum. Manchuria. Memorandum by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. 23 November 1931 (PDF, 1.328MB)

Recognition of Communist China

Cabinet Memorandum. Situation in China. Memorandum by the Foreign Secretary and the First Lord of the Admiralty. 25 April 1949 (PDF, 3.271MB)

Cabinet Conclusion 3. China: Recognition of Chinese Communist Government. 15 December 1949 (PDF, 7.381MB)

Cabinet Conclusion 7. China: Recognition of Chinese Communist Government. 27 October 1949 (PDF, 2.214MB)

Cabinet Memorandum. Recognition of the Chinese Communist Government. Memorandum by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. 24 October 1949 (PDF, 1.129MB)

Search using Manchuria Kuomintang

Further reading

Osterhammel, J., China In Brown, J.M and Louis, W.R. ed., The Oxford History of the British Empire, Vol. 4 The Twentieth Century (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1999)
Feuerwerker, A., The Foreign Presence in China In Fairbank, J.K. ed., The Cambridge History of China Vol. XII (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983)

Content

China until 1950
British interests and Chinese nationalism
Japanese rivalry and Communist China

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