AN INTERACTIVE STUDY ON THE BRITISH AND GERMAN SEMI-COLONIAL STRATEGY AND THE CHANGE OF TRADITIONAL CHINESE SOVEREIGNTY-BASED ON THE COMPARISON BETWEEN SHANGHAI AND QINGDAO

Abstract

The emergence of “Concessions” is not a simple historical problem. Based on the sovereignty declining theory, this paper attempts to explore the emergence of “Concessions” and the mechanism and process of sovereignty change. Unlike the ceded territory, Chinese “Concessions” in modern times are a special sovereign space. It means China shares its sovereignty with the western states. “Concessions” breaks the “supremacy” and “exclusiveness” of sovereignty. As “Concessions” with different legal statuses, Shanghai and Qingdao are not only part of the global colonial strategy between Britain and Germany, but also the watershed of Chinese sovereignty change. By comparing the changes in Chinese sovereignty in Shanghai and Qingdao, this paper finds out the mechanism and process of Chinese sovereignty weakening in the different Concessions. At the same time, the maintenance of sovereignty is related to whether China can form a centralized system. Before 1949, China could not form a centralized system, which was the main reason for the capacity of the state. The emergence and development of “Concessions” is also a manifestation of the Chinese vulnerable capacity to external interference and loss of sovereignty. This political phenomenon has affected the change of the Chinese state form.