Convention of Chuenpeh

Convention of Chuenpeh, Chuanbi Convention or the Ch'uenpi Convention was one of the first attempts to settle the First Opium War disputes between the Qing Empire and the United Kingdom. It was drafted in 1841, but was not formally ratified due to disagreements between the two parties.Courtauld, Caroline. Holdsworth, May. Vickers, Simon. [1997] (1997). The Hong Kong Story. HK University press. ISBN 0195903536]

Background

On January 1841, Captain Charles Elliot of the Royal Navy proposed to Qishan, the Governor of Guangdong Province, that a convention be signed to end hostilities during the Opium war. Since the meeting took place close to Bocca Tigris at Shajiao Fort (沙角炮台), which is also called Chuanbi fort in Chinese, the convention is commonly known as the "The Convention of Chuenpeh."

Terms

Under the terms of the convention, the Qing government would cede Hong Kong Island to the United Kingdom and China would also pay an indemnity of $6 million and let the British have free access to the port of Guangzhou. The convention specifically allowed the Qing government to continue collecting tax at Hong Kong, which was the main "clogging" point that led to the disagreement according to Lord Palmerston.

Aftermath

Although Qishan intended to sign the treaty, he never got formal approval from the Daoguang emperor and never signed the treaty. When the emperor found out about the contents of the treaty he dismissed Qishan from his position. The British government was also dissatisfied with the contents of the treaty and dismissed Elliot from his position as a consequence of the treaty.

Many of the contents of the treaty, such as the cession of Hong Kong, were included in the Treaty of Nanking, which was signed in 1842.

Notes

References

* Lecture notes from Dr. Poon Suk-wah, Lingnan University, Hong Kong.

ee also

* Anglo-Chinese relations