Shimonoseki, Treaty of 1895

concluded by Japan and China on April 17 in the city of Shimonoseki, as a result of the defeat of China in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894–95.

Under the Treaty of Shimonoseki, China renounced its sovereignty over Korea, creating favorable conditions for Japanese expansion in Korea. China ceded to Japan the island of Formosa (Taiwan), the P’enghu Liehtao Islands (the Pescadores), and the Liaotung Peninsula; paid an indemnity of 200 million taels ($158 million); opened several ports to trade; and granted the Japanese the right to build industrial enterprises in China and to ship industrial equipment to China. The last point, owing to the most-favored-nation status included in China’s treaties with other powers, opened broad opportunities for the penetration of China by foreign capital.

On Apr. 23, 1895, Russia, Germany, and France asked the Japanese government to renounce its annexation of the Liaotung Peninsula. Forced to concede this point, Japan received from China an additional indemnity of 30 million taels ($24 million).

The Treaty of Shimonoseki, which laid the foundation for the struggle of the imperialist powers over the territorial division of China and over the seizure of the major branches of the Chinese economy by foreign capital, was an important stage in China’s transformation into a semicolony.