British Law and Governance in Treaty Port China 1842-1927 Consuls, Courts and Colonial Subjects

• Main Author: Thompson, Alexander
• Format: eBook
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Amsterdam University Press 2024
• Edition: 1
• Series: Imperialism in East Asia
• Subjects: Administration; Amsterdam University Press; Asian Studies; AUP Wetenschappelijk; British Studies; China; Colonies; East Asia and North East Asia; European Studies; Exterritoriality; Foreign relations; Great Britain; Harbors; History; HISTORY / Asia / China; Law; Modern History; Port cities; Treaty Port China, Colonialism in China, British Empire, Extraterritoriality, Colonial law; China; Treaty Port China, Colonialism in China, British Empire, Extraterritoriality, Colonial law; LAW; Colonialism and imperialism; Europe; British Empire; South; Modern History; AUP Wetenschappelijk; Victorian Era (1837-1901); 20th century; Great Britain; Asia; Legal history; China; East Asia and North East Asia; c. 1800 to c. 1900; Asian Studies; HISTORY
• ISBN: 9463720391; 9789463720397; 9789048557097; 9048557097

In putting extraterritoriality into practice in the treaty ports, the British state did not simply withdraw rights from the Chinese state; it inhabited the space made by extraterritoriality by building institutions and engaging in practices which had consequences for the development of the treaty ports, and which need to be at the forefront of any attempt to understand colonialism in China. Through a focus both on the creation of law and institutions, and also on the management of British ‘problem populations’ – violent Europeans and ‘martial’ Indians – this book provides a revision of the history of empire and colonialism in China, explaining important features which have to date been glossed over in studies of other aspects of treaty port colonialism. Colonialism in China casts a long shadow, but key aspects of the British state’s central role in this history have before now been little understood.