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Admin moved page What did the Open Door policy with China Accomplish? to What did the Open Door policy with China Accomplish
====Why did the Open Policy fail to protect China?====
[[File:Empress-Dowager-Cixi1.jpg|thumbnail|left|300px250px|Empress Dowager Tz'u Hsi (Cixi)]]
In 1900, however, internal events in China threatened the idea of the Open Door. An anti-foreign movement known as the Boxer Rebellion, named for the martial artists that led the movement, gathered strength, and began attacking foreign missionaries and Chinese converts to Christianity. With the backing of Empress Dowager Cixi (Tz’u Hsi) and the Imperial Army, the Boxer Rebellion turned into a violent conflict that claimed the lives of hundreds of foreign missionaries and thousands of Chinese nationals. As the Boxers descended upon Beijing, foreign nationals living in that city—including embassy staff—clustered together in the besieged foreign legations, and called upon their home governments for assistance.
====What was the significance of the Open Policy?====
Together, the Open Door Notes served the important purpose of outlining U.S. policy toward China and expressing U.S. hopes for cooperation with the other foreign powers with a stake in the region. They were of lasting importance in U.S.-East Asian relations, and contributed to the idea of a Sino-American “special relationship.” However, because they were non-binding, the Notes did not prevent the United States—or any other power—from one day seeking Chinese territory, or acting in any way that was preferential to their own interests, even at the expense of the Chinese Government. Hay himself even briefly considered a seizure of Chinese territory, although he quickly rejected the idea. Although the Notes were not binding, Hay’s successors nonetheless adhered to the policy of maintaining the Open Door in China. The articulation of the Open Door policy represented the growing American interest and involvement in East Asia at the turn of the century.
====Conclusion====
Ironically, Hay articulated the Open Door policy at a time when the U.S. Government was doing everything in its power to close the door on Chinese immigration to the United States. This effectively stifled opportunities for Chinese merchants and workers in the United States.
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* Republished from [https://history.state.gov/| Office of the Historian, United States Department of State]
* Article: [https://history.state.gov/milestones/1899-1913/hay-and-china| Secretary of State John Hay and the Open Door in China, 1899–1900]
