“Details about the Open Door Policy”

- The Open Door Policy was a statement of principles initiated by the United States in

1899 and 1900 for the protection of equal privileges among countries trading with China

and in support of Chinese territorial and administrative integrity.

- The statement was issued in the form of circular notes dispatched by U.S. Secretary of

State John Hay to Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, and Russia.

- The Open Door policy was received with almost universal approval in the United States,

and for more than 40 years it was a cornerstone of American foreign policy in East Asia.

- The 1899 Open Door notes provided that (1) each great power should maintain free

access to a treaty port or to any other vested interest within its sphere, (2) only the

Chinese government should collect taxes on trade, and (3) no great power having a

sphere should be granted exemptions from paying harbour dues or railroad charges. The

replies from the various countries were evasive, but Hay interpreted them as acceptances.

- In reaction to the presence of European armies in northern China to suppress the Boxer

Rebellion (1900), Hay’s second circular of 1900 stressed the importance of preserving

China’s territorial and administrative integrity. Hay did not ask for replies, but all the

powers except Japan expressed agreement with those principles.