In April 1949, a million troops crossed the Yangtze River and liberated Nanjing, the seat of the Nationalist government, and a new people's China was about to be born. Although the Americans hated the corrupt Chiang Kai-shek government, they still wanted to retain the privilege of living in China, and intended to use this as a condition in exchange for recognition of the new China.
New China did not recognize all unequal treaties and illegal privileges in China, and the wishful thinking of the Americans could not be realized. Stuart Layden left China in disgrace, and the US government launched a white paper reviewing china policy to find a reason for the United States to "lose China." At this time, Stuart Layden stepped forward, saying that the United States had lost China as early as 1905.
As an American who has lived in China for almost a lifetime, why did Stuart Redden say this? What really happened in 1905? That year, for the first time, Chinese united to boycott American goods, demanding that the United States repeal the discriminatory Chinese Exclusion Act.
The Chinese Exclusion Act, enacted in 1882, prohibits Chinese workers from immigrating to the United States, the first act in the United States to target specific immigrant groups. Because Chinese workers are hard-working, waged lower than American workers, and work more than American workers, it is necessary to prevent Chinese workers from stealing the jobs of American workers. The virtues of the Chinese nation become evil here.
For ordinary people, the Chinese Exclusion Act is too far away and has little to do with themselves. In August 1903, Tan Jinyong, the military attaché of the Qing Dynasty legation in the United States, was beaten for no reason by several American policemen because he was a Chinese, and finally the police tied Tan Jinyong's braids to the fence for public display. Deeply humiliated, Tan Jinyong was angry and jumped into the river to commit suicide.
The news spread domestically, causing a national uproar. Many businessmen originally thought that the "Chinese Exclusion Act" was only aimed at Chinese workers, but they did not expect that the discrimination against Chinese in the United States was so serious that even government officials with such a status as military attachés stationed abroad would be humiliated to death.
Under the pressure of public opinion, the Qing government proposed to the United States in 1904 to repeal or amend the Chinese Exclusion Act, but the US Congress passed a bill to extend the Chinese Exclusion Act indefinitely. This ignited the anger of Chinese.
A boycott of American goods has been launched in various circles in China, starting in Shanghai in May and has grown to East China, Central China and South China by July. The store neither sells nor purchases American goods, but tries to replace them with domestic products, and really does not exchange them for goods from other countries.
By the end of August, the U.S. government had finally compromised and relaxed entry restrictions for businessmen, teachers, students, and travelers other than Chinese workers. The Qing government took the opportunity to start a crackdown, and the boycott of American goods came to an end. In fact, a few victories did not change the discrimination against Chinese in the United States, and the Chinese Exclusion Act was not repealed until 1943.
Some people say that the United States is the best power in China in modern times, but this country blatantly discriminates against Chinese in law, and if it were not for the needs of World War II, the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act would not have been so easy. Can you believe that a country that openly discriminates against you will be good to you?