The Treaty of Tianjin: How It Changed Taiwan’s Economic Makeup
Huang Shihhan | March 16, 2010
- The Xianfeng Emperor
In 1858 (the third year of Xianfeng Emperor’s reign), following the Second Opium War, the Qing Empire signed a treaty in Tianjin in northern China with several foreign powers.
The treaty permitted foreign legations in the Chinese capital Beijing, allowed Christian missionary actively, legalized the import of opium and opened more Chinese ports to the foreign powers. Taiwan, which was part of the Qing Empire at the time, was forced by the treaty to open the ports of Tainan in southern Taiwan and Danhui in northern Taiwan.
How did the treaty change Taiwan? Click on the icon below to listen to an interview with Professor Lin Man-houng, head of Taiwan’s highest historical research institute, Academia Historica.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
