The Chinese Diplomacy toward the Japan during the Yangwu Movement period and Ryukyuan Refugees into China (Part 1) - Re-examination on the issues of dividing of the Ryukyu Islands -

It was on October 21st, 1880 that the formal negotiations between Japan and China concerning division of Ryukyu Islands and revision of the Sino-Japanese Treaty of Amity in 1871 came to a satisfactory conclusion. on that day, the Plenipotentiaries of both countries promised to sign the draft treaty after ten days. But ten days later, Chinese plenipotentiaries did not dare to sign it with all their promise. as a result, this draft treaty did not become effective, and only have remained as historical evidence of Japan-China relations in this period. The themes of this thesis are as follows; firstly, why had both countries tried to resolve the question of the tittle to the Ryukyu Islands by division of them into two parts at this period? secondly, why Chinese plenipotentiaries who had once consented to the draft treaty and promised to sign it, did not fulfill their promise after all? thirdly, to what extent the very residents of Ryukyu Islands concerned with the problem of division? particularly, what role the Ryukyuan refugees into China could play in the making and abortion of draft treaty? A conclusion of this thesis is as follows; as chinese government had sticked to diplomatic policy of Japan-China cooperation since the conclusion of the Sino -Japanese Treaty of Amity in 1871, they tried to accept the draft treaty and resolve these problems. but Chinese plenipotentiaries did not dare to sign the draft treaty that they had once consented, because Li Hongzhang (李鴻章), who had a most influence on Chinese diplomacy, changed suddenly his attitude on the division of Ryukyu Islands into two parts. It was, firstly, because the Ryukyuan refugees, as Xiang Dehong (向徳宏) and Lin Xigong (林世功), had frequently presented petitions begging the Chinese to rescue the Kingdom of Ryukyu from the Japanese and the latter suicided himself against division of Ryukyu Islands, and secondly, because the strain of China and Russia relations on Ili (伊犂) was a few getting toward an easing that Li Hongzhang was forced to change suddenly his attitude on the draft treaty. In other words, befor or after the conclusion of draft treaty, the strain of China and Russia relations on Ili's problem did'nt mitigate rapidly, so Li Hongzhang's sudden change was'nt directly owing to the change of international circumstance