Chinese History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Chinese History - Essay Example Chinese semi-colonialism was viewed as both a historical moment mainly specified in relation to European and more generally international capitalist political, economic, and cultural projects in the modern era and as a trope for domination, violation, and resistance. Dominance in semi-colonial China was doubly articulated. It stood, on the one hand, for imperialism’s power to limit the sovereignty of the Chinese state and, thereby, advance its own interests. On the other hand, it stood for the power exercised by the indigenous elite over the productive classes. Violation was inherent in both of these forms of dominance since they came to be articulated along similar ideological lines in early twentieth century. Another cause for violation was caused by lack of hegemony. The lack of hegemony is the most understandable and obvious in the case of imperialism, since its formal power was limited and partial. Indeed, the Chinese semicolonialism was treated as a political and concept which denoted a constellation of interventions, institutions, practices, and policies through which foreign imperialists had to establish beneficial positions and semiautonomous operations. They had no interest of ruling but to explore the country economically. The established positions ranged from aggression and equal treaties to spheres of influence and semicolonial agencies like the customs bureau. The result was something more than a mere advantageous position, especially in certain sectors of the economy. By the end of 1920, foreigners had taken control of 99 percent if Chinese iron ore, 76 percent of the coal, 92 percent of the railways, and 73 percent of the steam tonnage on the Yangzi. Despite the disintegrating effects of semicolonialism, it led to the rise of several objective conditions and created more room for developing its capitalist production. The destruction of the Chinese natural economy gave rise to commodity market for