China and Japan Response to the West essays

China and Japan Response to the West essays From the period of 1750-1914, many non Western countries such as China, Japan, Russia, and the Middle East were feeling the pressure from the West to modernize and industrialize. While Japan was quite successful in modernizing and industrializing through the Meiji Restoration, China never fully understood the need to modernize and industrialize which cause it to lag behind Japan, especially economically. One similarity between China and Japans response to western imperialism was that both countries were forced to sign unequal treaties that would allow the West to trade with them. One difference in China and Japans response to Western imperialism was that Japan realized it had to westernize, modernize, and cooperate with the West which Japan reacted to through the Meiji Restoration. However, China did not fully realize the need to westernize and modernize and instead continued to fight with the West instead of cooperating with them and many Chinese reacted in an anti- foreign manner i n the Boxer Rebellion. One difference between China and Japans response to Western industrialization was that China never had an Industrial Revolution and never completed it since they rejected industrialization and they thought their economy was already thriving without it. However, Japan reacted by promoting industrialization and completing its Industrial Revolution. One similarity between China and Japans response to western imperialism was that both countries were forced to sign unequal treaties that would allow the West to trade with them. The Treaty of Nanjing in China and supplement treaties signed between the British and the Chinese were the first of the humiliating unequal treaties. It radically increased the openings for trade in China. The treaties opened five ports called Canton, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Linbou, and Shanghai to conduct foreign trade as treaty ports. Hong Kong was surrendered to the Britis...