Vancouver Model
United Nations
The 12th Annual Conference • February 1–3, 2013
Supplementary Guide
Historical Chinese Crisis
At the behest of His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor of the Great Qing Dynasty, Son of Heaven,
Lord of Ten Thousand Years, this report has been created to update his loyal subjects on the current
situation that befalls the empire.
A brief history of China
400000 BCE
2,800–2,200 BCE
1,700 BCE
221–206 BCE
206 BCE – 220 CE
220
618–1279
1279
1268
1644
1675
1689
1796–1804
1839–1842
1850
1856–1860
1871
1894–1895
1898
It is believed that the Peking Man, an ancestor of the Chinese people and
possibly all humans, lived during this time.
The mythical five emperors and three sovereigns reign.
The Shang Dynasty unites much of Northern China under a single state for
the first time.
Much of China is united under the first Emperor, Shi Huangdi.
Under the Han Dynasty, China enters the first Golden Age.
The Han State collapses, leading to four centuries of war.
Several Chinese dynasties rule with varying degrees of efficacy.
The Mongol invasions begin, and power passes to the foreign Yuan Dynasty.
The Mongols are expelled and the Ming Dynasty forms and establishes a
centralized, sophisticated agrarian economy. The Great Wall of China is
completed.
The Qing Dynasty drives out the Ming, and the Chinese Empire reaches its
zenith with the annexation of Tibet, Mongolia, and Turkestan.
The Rebellion of the Three Feudatories takes place.
A treaty with Russia is concluded and a non-tributary relationship with the
West is established.
The White Lotus Rebellion occurs.
The First Opium War occurs. At its conclusion, the first set of unequal
treaties are signed.
The Taiping Rebellion begins. Its leader, Hong Xiuquan, claimed to be the
younger brother of Jesus Christ and established the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which, at its peak, contained nearly 30 million people.
The Second Opium War takes place, concluded by a second set of territorial
concessions.
The Taiping Rebellion ends with the rebels violently crushed by a combination of Chinese and foreign forces.
The First Sino-Japanese War is fought. Ultimately, China is forced to
cede previously held territory to Imperial Japan. China’s disastrous defeat
sparked considerable public unrest at home.
The Hundred Days Reform takes place. It ends when the Empress Dowager
Cixi and her conservative supporters retake power in a coup d’état.
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Historical Chinese Crisis
Above A map of the Chinese Empire and surrounding territories in 1900
Left A visual depiction of
the spheres of influence
held by foreign powers in
China around the start of
the 20th century
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Historical Chinese Crisis
Why are we down on our luck?
It all began back in the early part of the last century. With the forcible opening of Chinese markets
to European goods and the stunning terms of capitulation that we were forced to agree to, the economy slumped and has not, as of yet, recovered. Silver is being used not only to pay the thousands
of taels of indemnity, but also to purchase ever-increasing amounts of opiates so gleefully supplied
by merchants from London and Delhi. Our workforce has been decimated by the narcotics trade
and comparatively little is being produced relative to levels from previous eras. Fifty of our finest
cities, great trading hubs, and ports were unceremoniously ripped from their historical footings;
they became so-called treaty ports, effectively becoming prostituted to foreign trade and residence.
Finally, further humiliating us,, the once-sovereign lands of the Middle Kingdom were divvied up
between rival European powers in grossly unequal treaties that we had no choice but to agree too;
these lands are now theirs in all but name.
As the century continued, things got worse. The ancient ruling dynasty, the Qing, took the blame
for the problems that had befallen the nation. Rebellion in southern China, and the eventual need
to turn to foreign assistance, led to increased indebtedness and furthered the effects of conciliatory
policies towards the European powers.
This was the final straw. Our economy lies devastated in the wake of wars, both external and internal; countless acres of farmland now lie fallow; millions upon millions of working men are now
dead or wholly incapacitated; foreign imports have all but eclipsed our own domestically produced
goods; foreign concessions exert domestic influence in once closed areas. If significant changes are
not enacted, this nation is on its last legs: there is great unrest in both the nobility and the peasantry,
which may soon boil over. Already, the Boxer movement threatens the stability in the provinces and
the clawing talons of foreign powers seek to exploit and control what will remain.
Who are the Boxers really?
Many believe the gods to be displeased. Imperialism and the scourge of natural disasters have
plagued the provinces of the kingdom for many years. Among those who have been most affected
by this plight, unrest and dissent have been to foment. Individuals, scorned by the twin droughts
of rain and capital inflow, have founded a movement dedicated to fighting the social and moral ills
of the age. Driven by an anger stemming from the humiliation of the nation by foreign powers,
the apparent stagnation and decline in Chinese society compared to rapidly advancing Western
culture, and the poor agricultural conditions in the fields, the Boxers are the embodiment of the
societal tension of the age. However, some of their beliefs are, to say the least, odd. They believe it is
possible to perform such incredible and superhuman feats such as flight, through a particular diet,
special training, and prayer; they also believe that, when the time is right, millions of soldiers, long
dead, will return from the grave to assist them in their quest.
The Boxer movement is decentralized but unified by a common goal. Each individual cell may have
a leader or even a hierarchy, but the overall movement does not communicate with one another;
therefore, there is no coherent leadership structure for us to go after. Many factors led to the cre—4—
Vancouver Model United Nations 2013
Historical Chinese Crisis
ation of the Boxers, officially known as the Righteous Harmony Society. The group largely grew out
of a number of local orders, most being small martial arts clubs dedicated to weeding out bandits
in their respective areas. The first inklings of anti-foreign sentiment can be found in attacks on local
churches that bandits had founded with the purpose of gaining immunity (the treaties we signed
forced us to accord this privilege to Christians). These initial attacks on bandit churches in turn led
to attacks on churches founded and affiliated with foreigners, leading to the tenuous political and
diplomatic situation that we find today.
What about the foreigners?
For the first hundred years of its relationship with the modern West, our government had the upper
hand. England tried to court the favor of the then-Emperor by showing him all of the advanced
inventions that the West had produced. The Emperor however, not one to deal with barbarians and
their crafts, told the ambassador that they had already said inventions, or had improved versions
thereof, and subsequently banned trading with the West. It was not until the Opium Wars, and the
dramatically unbalanced treaties that ended them, during which the West finally gained the upper
hand over the Middle Kingdom — and did they ever exploit this relationship.
The foreign powers that have so violently inserted themselves at the heart of Chinese government
dislike, above all else, having their kind die at the hands of us, the inferior conquered peoples. As
such, the Boxers are nothing but a force that will continue to inflame tensions between Beijing and
various nations. There is no better example to illustrate this dangerous relationship than recent developments concerning the Germans. Attacks by Boxers on the Christian communities around Juye
County led to the deaths of two German missionaries. In response, the European power responded
with overwhelming and disproportionate force, seizing the opportunity to force their territorial
agenda by exacting further concessions from us.
This makes the situation with the Boxers even more complex, considering the proclivity of foreign
powers to exploit our own internal strife to further their own interests. As we revisit our domestic
policy, we must keep in mind that current trends are unsustainable and further concessions are
unacceptable, especially in our already weakened state.
The situation today
From the houses of government in Europe, a telegram is racing through the wires under the sea.
Faster and faster now, it speeds towards the legation quarter in Beijing. The message will cleave the
court in two; it will force rapid action from all delegates, regardless of their apprehension. Either
decision will cause great hardship for the people of the Middle Kingdom. As the court meets for
emergency session over the next few days, there are a number of issues that his majesty wishes the
delegates to keep in mind:
—— The security and continuance of the Chinese state is paramount.
—— The Boxers may turn out to be helpful in ridding the state of foreign influence, or could, if
mishandled, lead to catastrophe and total dominance by the West.
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Historical Chinese Crisis
—— The people desire change, be it a new government or, less radically, sweeping reforms. They
most certainly will not be happy with more of the same.
—— The foreign powers will watch what happens in coming days with great interest; any further
signs of weakness will definitely be to their advantage.
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