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Constructing Sovereignty in Nineteenth-Century China: the Negotiation of Reciprocity in the Sino-Spanish Treaty of 1864

ABSTRACT Since the Republican era, the unequal treaties that China was forced to sign became the basis for the articulation of a narrative of humiliation that has continued to the present day. These treaties, which represented a threat to Chinese sovereignty and were a display of the might of Western powers, have several features in common: they imposed extraterritoriality; included the most-favoured-nation clause; and fixed indemnities or disproportionate concessions. However, the Sino-Spanish Treaty of 1864 was to a certain extent unusual, as it not only guaranteed privileges to Chinese merchants and citizens visiting the Spanish colony of the Philippines, but even went as far as to grant China a most-favoured-nation clause. Through a comparative analysis of the 1864 Sino-Spanish Treaty and the circumstances under which it was negotiated, this article will argue that far from simply being an exception that proves the rule, this treaty offers a glimpse into the need for a more flexible and wider narrative surrounding mid-nineteenth-century China international relations. In an attempt to contribute to the dereification of the West and a better understanding of Chinese agency in the mid-nineteenth century, this narrative needs to be more inclusive of the peripheral powers.