Abstract:

After the defeat of the Qing Dynasty in the First Sino-Japanese War, Li Hongzhang (1823-1901) was appointed as a special envoy to sign the Treaty of Peace between China and Japan (Treaty of Shimonoseki) with the Japanese. Subsequently, Russia joined by Germany and France demanded that Japan abandon the occupation of the Liaodong Peninsula. This is the famous “Triple Intervention” in modern history. In the 22nd year of the reign of Guangxu Emperor (1896), the Qing court signed the Li-Lobanov Treaty with Russia. In March of the 24th year of the reign of Guangxu Emperor (1898), the Qing court and Russia signed the Convention for the Lease of Liaotung Peninsula between China and Russia, in which the Qing court leased ports of Lushun and Dalian to Russia. In order to prevent the expansion of the Russian sphere of influence, the United Kingdom proposed the lease of Weihaiwei from Qing court. According to historical records from archives, the British careful analyzed and planned, and negotiated with other major powers before the lease of Weihaiwei. Shortly following these, the United Kingdom negotiated with the Qing court for the Weihaiwei lease, and pressured the Qing court to sign the Convention respecting Weihaiwei between China and Great Britainvention for the Lease of Weihaiwei, which made Weihaiwei under British rule. Based on the historical archive, the Archives of the Ministry Foreign Affair of the Qing Dynasty: the British Lease of Weihaiwei and other related historical archives, we intend to provide a preliminary discussion on the negotiation process of the British lease of Weihaiwei by inspecting the original archive of the Convention respecting Weihaiwei between China and Great Britainvention for the Lease of Weihaiwei and related maps in this paper.

Key words: Li Hongzhang, Weihaiwei, Convention respecting Weihaiwei between China and Great Britainvention for the Lease of Weihaiwei, Liugong Island