Extraterritoriality

~Extraterritoriality~
==Extraterritoriality is a policy that assured European citizens in China that they were not subject to the laws of China, only to the laws of Great Britain. They also could only be tried by their own courts. The Opium Wars were a main cause of British extraterritoriality in China. When the Chinese were defeated, they had to comply to a series of treaties with the British over time. According to the 1842 Treaty of Nanjing, the Chinese were to allow extraterritoriality to British citizens living in China. This resulted in confusion and inequality among the people of China. While Chinese natives had to live in accord with Chinese laws, British citizens continued to live by British laws. The Lorcha Arrow incident mentioned on the "Causes and Results of the Second Opium War" page was not the only conflict that resulted from the policy of extraterritoriality. This policy caused the Opium Wars and was increased as a result of the wars. Its negative affect on the Chinese became completely undeniable as problems continued to arise. == == == This picture shows the Treaty of Nanjing.