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The Shanghai Conference was a summit involving all the world powers with treaties involving China, convened in July and August of 1928. Its participants hoped to de-escalate the tensions following the Jade Wind Incident, which threatened to bring Germany and Japan into war, as well as finding a permanent solution for the never-ending Chinese internal power struggle, but its scope quickly broadened to solving the greater British Question in East Asia. The conference produced the Legation Treaty, signed in the Legation Quarter of Beijing, which ended the Fourth Zhili-Fengtian War, required recognition of the Qing Government in Beijing by most warlords, and created the Legation Cities. The Fengtian Clique, which eventually set up the Fengtian Government as a counter-government, remained independent and within Japan's sphere of influence.
Fourth Zhili-Fengtian War[]
The Fourth Zhili-Fengtian war began in March 1928 with Shanxi's declaration of Qing illegitimacy. This was planned as a surprise but was predicted due to German Intelligence operatives in Shanghai having cracked Japanese encryption from 1925.
The Fengtian Clique's plan was for Shanxi to capture the two key railway arteries as happened in Wu Peifu's 1924 defeat, preventing reinforcements from moving north and allowing Fengtian forces to advance on Beijing. However, German Intelligence notified the Zhili of these plans, and the attacks were crushed. What emerged was a stalemate, in which Fengtian seemed unable to make progress.
The Jade Wind Incident[]
Due to Sun Chuanfang's mass mobilization of his good forces, he left behind the dregs of his army, past mercenaries and bandits to garrison his lands. This led to wide lawlessness in Eastern China, and foreigners quickly became an acceptable target for banditry. In 1928, bandits seized a train in the outskirts of Shanghai, and news of the incident was passed onto the proper authorities. Tokyo's response was nothing outside of the ordinary, and the German Intelligence felt snug, seeing all communications between the Home Islands and China.
However, the Japanese military acted independently of Tokyo, and quickly occupied the areas surrounding Shanghai, to embark on a "rescue mission", ostensibly to save the foreign passengers. The Chinese and German forces in the city, surprised, turned the engagement into a full-blown firefight. Once news of it broke out, governments in Nanjing, Berlin and Tokyo began scrambling frantically to avoid war. A solution emerged when the United States offered to mediate, and though fighting continued between the Chinese factions elsewhere in China, a ceasefire was organized for the area surrounding Shanghai.
The Conference[]
This mediation came at a price however, with the Americans insisting on a “permanent solution” to the balance of power conflict in East Asia in addition to a de-escalation of the immediate crisis. Though this gave the United States a stronger hand than it ought to have had in determining the course of regional affairs, given its recent plunge into depression, both Germany and Japan were eager to avoid further escalation. The result of preliminary talks was a call for an American-mediated conference in Shanghai involving all foreign powers with treaty commitments in China, though the primary players were Germany, Japan and the United States of America. Talks were almost ended before they begin when Germany and Japan insisted upon Canadian non-participation due to the “lack of a responsible British government”, leading American delegate Quentin Roosevelt to suggest the Canadian delegation participate in an “observational role”. An original proponent of the conference in Washington, Quentin went on to play a major role in the negotiations in the footsteps of his father thirty years before.
While it began as an attempt to merely resolve conflicts in China and East Asia, the conference eventually developed into a comprehensive restructuring of the relationship between China and the international powers, heavily shaped by the American insistence on “Open Doors” through which all nations could trade equally with China. The centerpiece of this concept, as well as its legal and physical embodiment, became the International Mandate for the Chinese Concessions, more commonly known as the Legation Cities: a neutral international authority which would incorporate and govern the disparate foreign concessions across China, denying them to any single party's control.
Although most of the conference involved mundane details like the disposition of tariff authorities and the exact dimensions of borders, a majorly publicized point of disagreement became the possible inclusion of Tsingtao, Dairen, Weihaiwei, and Guangzhouwan. Germany and Japan, which had acquired and developed the former two cities for strategic reasons, had little desire to surrender either to a neutral international authority. Weihaiwei and Guangzhouwan, formerly British and French concessions, were also seen as unsuitable components in the new mandate given their nature as primarily military installations. Germany and Japan eventually agreed to consider the former two cities as exceptions to the rule, but the latter two, being both German possessions, seemed to tip the agreements' scaled firmly in Germany's favor. Eventually the Japanese dlegation was pressured to drop the matter, the United States and other powers likely seeing the two cities as a convenient counter-balance to Japan's regional advantage in proximity. The conferences' success was ultimately dependent on Japan’s hopes to avoid further international isolation, German desires to expand influence in China without further significant military commitment, and American aspirations to preserve their own position despite a public with little desire for military adventurism.
No such solution was found for Macao, however. When it became clear that the proposed International Mandate might require its incorporation, the Kingdom of Portugal declined to participate further, and withdrew from the conference; viewing Macao as a part of its sovereign trans-continental territory, which could not be surrendered to an international authority.
In the end, after weeks of negotiation, all of the other participant powers signed the agreement in the Beijing Legation Quarter on August 18th, 1928.
Terms of the Conference[]
The new International Mandate, commonly referred to as the “Legation Cities” after the Legation Quarter in Beijing where its existence was formally declared, became an expanded and modified version of the earlier “International Settlement” in Shanghai; The six coastal cities each retain their historical districts, while operating under a governor or local municipal council, themselves subordinate to the Consular Council, representing each of its member states' interests.
Key to the agreement were the neutral zones, perhaps better described as exclusion zones, surrounding the coastal cities on their landward side. Chinese soldiers are forbidden to enter under arms, ensuring the security of the international cities, while also denying their strategic value to warlords. Without the axes of logistics and trade in Shanghai and Tianjin, it was hoped that Chinese wars would die down like a flame lacking fuel.
In addition, the powers agreed to bring about an end to the then-ongoing conflict in China, bringing both sides to sign an armistice, and the Cliques in Shanxi and Yunnan to recognize the Qing government in Beijing. The Fengtian Clique stood as an exception, and signed the armistice but refused to recognize the Qing as legitimate; an exception made thanks to Japanese insistence.
Results of the Conference[]
Despite the delegates leaving the conference mostly satisfied, the public reactions at home were something else entirely due to unrealistic expectations. The Japanese delegation, perceived to have abandoned its responsibilities by failing to return Shandong to Japanese stewardship, faced humiliation and death threats, while the German representatives were seen as having failed to capitalize upon Germany’s superior position in China. The American delegation, though less harshly criticized, was considered to have made useless foreign commitments as the country struggled with an increasingly dire depression at the time.
To any outside observers, the 1928 conference of Shanghai brought peace to a war-torn nation, but underneath the surface tensions remain high. Wars of espionage and ideology rage under Shanghai’s neon signs and in the winding alleyways of ancient cities. Some agitators call for brotherhood, others unity, and still others for revolution. The Shanghai conference only suppressed China's deep rivalries, but did not extinguish them. Should warfare resume, the stakes will be higher than ever as the fate of China may be decided once and for all.