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Encyclopedia entry: “Open Door” Policy
- Article from:
- The Oxford Companion to United States History
- Author:
Copyright© The Oxford Companion to United States History 2001, originally published by Oxford University Press 2001. (Hide copyright information)
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“Open Door” Policy.
The “Open Door” notes, issued by Secretary of State John
Hay
in 1899–1901, represented the U.S. hope and expectation of maintaining access to the China market at a time when European colonial powers and Japan, taking advantage of China's weakness after the Sino‐Japanese War of 1894–1895, threatened to exclude U.S. business by carving out exclusive spheres of influence for themselves. Seeking to prevent this without resort to force, and drawing upon ideas already developed by British observers, Hay articulated a series of principles for the interested nations—Great Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Japan, Russia, and ...