The Rise of Pacific Powers in the 19<SUP>th</SUP> Century Capitalist World-System and China’s Incorporation Process

Abstract

This paper seeks to find the roles of Pacific powers in China’s incorporation process. So far, China’s incorporation process into the modern world-system has been interpretation as being controlled by European powers. However, this is only one aspect of the relationship in the modern world-system in the 19<SUP>th</SUP> century. To delve into the 19<SUP>th</SUP> century China’s unprecedented juncture led by the expansion of the capitalist world economy, I highlight the roles of Pacific powers like Russia, the United States, and Japan. To that end, I show how the Pacific powers newly emerged in the 19<SUP>th</SUP> century and investigate how each Pacific power influenced China’s incorporation process during the long 19<SUP>th</SUP> century.