“Securing and Holding Our Share of Influence and Trade in China”: Edwin Conger and US–China Relations at the Turn of the 20th Century

As U.S. minister to China from 1898 to 1905, Edwin Conger underwent one of the most tumultuous periods in U.S.-China relations, including the European powers’ “Scramble for China” after the first Sino-Japanese War, the Hundred Days Reform, the anti-Christian riots culminating in the Boxer Rebellion, the U.S. espousal of the Open Door Policy, and the Chinese boycott of American products in 1905, which was the first nationalist movement in modern Chinese history. As the top U.S. diplomat in China, Conger played a crucial role in U.S. China policymaking during this period; yet the existing works have not examined his influence.

Using the diplomatic documents from the Department of State and the personal files such as those from Edwin Conger’s wife Sarah Conger, this paper explores the U.S. policy toward China during this period. It will answer the following questions: How did the U.S. respond to European imperialism in China? What was the U.S. perception of China’s modernization efforts and its internal power struggle? What factors contributed to the Open Door Policy, which served as the foundation of U.S. policy towards China for the first half of the 20^th century? How did the U.S. meet the challenges of Chinese nationalism? And what role did Conger play in the U.S. China policymaking? This paper argues that the United States had successfully secured its interests to some extent while helping the Chinese, although it had limited presence and influence in China. Edwin Conger employed his personal connections in China to persuade his American colleagues to assume a practical attitude towards China. Consequently, his persuasive analysis of the Chinese situation and his poignant proposals had contributed significantly to America’s pragmatic foreign policy.