The Treaty of Shimonoseki (Japanese: 下関条約, Hepburn: Shimonoseki Jōyaku), also known as the Treaty of Maguan in China or the Treaty of Bakan (馬關條約, Bakan Jōyaku) in Japan, was signed in Shimonoseki, Japan, on April 17, 1895, between the Empire of Japan and the Qing dynasty. The treaty ended the First Sino-Japanese War, in which the Japanese decisively defeated the Chinese land and naval forces. The treaty was signed at the Shunpanrō hotel by Count Itō Hirobumi and Viscount Mutsu Munemitsu for Japan and Li Hongzhang and his son Li Jingfang on behalf of China.
The peace conference took place from March 20 to April 17, 1895, and the treaty followed and superseded the Sino-Japanese Friendship and Trade Treaty of 1871. It consisted of 11 articles which provided for the termination of China's tributary relations with Korea; required that China pay an indemnity of 200 million taels and cede Taiwan (Formosa), the Penghu (Pescadores) Islands, and the Liaodong Peninsula to Japan; and opened four cities (Shashi, Chongqing, Suzhou, and Hangzhou) to Japan as trading ports. However, due to the diplomatic Triple Intervention of Russia, Germany, and France just one week after the treaty was signed, the Japanese withdrew their claim to the Liaodong Peninsula in return for an additional war indemnity of 30 million taels from China.
Chinese scholars and officials vigorously opposed the harsh terms of the treaty, but it was ratified by the Guangxu Emperor. The cession of Taiwan and the Penghu Islands met with strong resistance by the local populace, and the islands were not taken over by Japan until October 1895. At the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1945, Japan surrendered and later signed the Treaty of Taipei with the Republic of China on 28 April 1952, which officially abrogated the Treaty of Shimonoseki.
Article 1: China recognizes definitively the full and complete independence and autonomy of Korea, and, in consequence, the payment of tribute and the performance of ceremonies and formalities by Korea to China, that are in derogation of such independence and autonomy, shall wholly cease for the future.
Articles 2 & 3: China cedes to Japan in perpetuity and full sovereignty of the Penghu (Pescadores) Islands, Taiwan (Formosa) and the Liaodong Peninsula together with all fortifications, arsenals, and public property.
Article 4: China agrees to pay to Japan as a war indemnity the sum of 200,000,000 Kuping taels ( 7,500,000 kilograms/16,534,500 pounds of silver).
Article 5: China opens Shashi (Shashih), Chongqing (Chungking), Suzhou (Soochow) and Hangzhou (Hangchow) to Japan. Moreover, China is to grant Japan most favoured nation status for foreign trade (which is equal to, not above, the trade relations granted to the United Kingdom, United States, and France in 1843–44 and to Russia in 1858),
The treaty ended the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895 as a clear victory for Japan.
China recognized the "full and complete independence and autonomy" of Joseon (the kingdom of Korea) and formally renounced China's traditional tributary system. The ceremonies in which Joseon respecting the political influence of China by paying tribute were permanently abolished. In the next year, the Yeongeunmun gate outside Seoul, where those ceremonies were performed, was demolished leaving its two stone pillars.
China ceded to Japan the Island of Taiwan, the Penghu Islands, and the Liaodong Peninsula in the southern part of present-day Liaoning province (including the city of Dalian). However, Liaodong was subsequently returned to Qing dynasty due to diplomatic intervention of Russia, Germany, and France, which forced Japan to back down and withdraw from the peninsula in the same year.
China paid Japan a war indemnity of 200 million Kuping taels, paid over seven years.
China opened various ports and rivers to Japanese trade, and granted Japan the same status regarding trade as various western powers had gained in the aftermath of the First and Second Opium Wars.
Qing China's indemnity to Japan of 200 million silver Kuping taels, or about 240,000,000 troy ounces (7,500 t). After the Triple intervention, they paid another 30 million taels for a total of over 276,000,000 troy ounces (8,600 t) silver, worth about $5 billion US dollars in 2015.
During the summit between Japanese and Qing representatives in March and April 1895, Prime Minister Itō Hirobumi and Foreign Minister Mutsu Munemitsu wanted to reduce the power of the Qing dynasty on not only the Korean Peninsula but also the Taiwan islands. Moreover, Mutsu had already noticed its importance in order to expand Japanese military power towards South China and Southeast Asia. It was also the age of imperialism, so Japan wished to mimic what the Western nations were doing. Imperial Japan was seeking colonies and resources in the Korean Peninsula and mainland China to compete with the presence of Western powers at that time. This was the way the Japanese leadership chose to illustrate how fast Imperial Japan had advanced compared to the West since the 1867 Meiji Restoration, and the extent it wanted to amend the unequal treaties that were held in the Far East by the Western powers.
At the peace conference between Imperial Japan and the Qing dynasty, Li Hongzhang and Li Jingfang, the ambassadors at the negotiation desk of the Qing dynasty, originally did not plan to cede Taiwan because they also realized Taiwan's great location for trading with the West. Therefore, even though the Qing had lost wars against Britain and France in the 19th century, the Qing emperor was serious about keeping Taiwan under its rule, which began in 1683. On March 20, 1895, at Shunpanrō (春帆楼) in Shimonoseki in Japan, a one month long peace conference began.
At the first half of the conference, Ito and Li talked mainly about a cease-fire agreement, and during the second half of the conference, the contents of the peace treaty were discussed. Ito and Mutsu claimed that yielding the full sovereignty of Taiwan was an absolute condition and requested Li to hand over full sovereignty of the Penghu Islands and the eastern portion of the bay at the southern tip of the Liaodong Peninsula. Li Hongzhang refused on the grounds that Taiwan had never been a battlefield during the first Sino-Japanese War between 1894 and 1895. By the final stage of the conference, while Li Hongzhang agreed to the transfer of full sovereignty of the Penghu islands and the portion of Liaodong to Imperial Japan, he still refused to hand over Taiwan. As Taiwan had been a province since 1885, Li stated, "Taiwan is already a province, and therefore not to be given away (臺灣已立一行省，不能送給他國)."
However, Imperial Japan had the military advantage, and eventually Li gave Taiwan up. On April 17, 1895, the peace treaty between Imperial Japan and the Qing dynasty had been signed and was followed by the successful Japanese invasion of Taiwan. This had a huge and lasting impact on Taiwan, the turning over of the island to Imperial Japan marking the end of 200 years of Qing rule despite local resistance in Taiwan against the annexation, which was quashed swiftly by the Japanese. Therefore, Taiwan was under Japanese rule from 1895 to 1945, until the end of World War II by the surrender of Japan.
The treaty was drafted with John W. Foster, former American secretary of state, advising the Qing Empire. It was signed by Count Itō Hirobumi and Viscount Mutsu Munemitsu for the emperor of Japan and Li Hongzhang and Li Jingfang on behalf of the emperor of China. Before the treaty was signed, Li Hongzhang was attacked by a right-wing Japanese extremist on 24 March: he was fired at and wounded on his way back to his lodgings at Injoji temple. The public outcry aroused by the assassination attempt caused the Japanese to temper their demands and agree to a temporary armistice. The conference was temporarily adjourned and resumed on 10 April.