Negotiating a Settlement

Abstract

This chapter explains the negotiations that took place in Beijing that brought the diplomatic conflict between the Japanese and Chinese governments to an end. By that time, Japanese negotiators did not expect to proceed with the plan to establish colonies in Taiwan, but they maintained the threat of colonization in the background as they demanded an indemnity from the Chinese government as compensation for its failure to establish effective civil administration over the indigenous territory. An indemnity would, at least implicitly, validate the Japanese argument that the Chinese government had a responsibility to civilize the indigenous territory, and according to the Japanese government’s argument the failure of China to acknowledge its responsibility would have provided justification for the Japanese to colonize the territory.