The diplomatic struggle between Qing China and France over the Vietnamese issues from Giap Tuat Treaty (1874) to Tianjin Treaty (1884)

Abstract

The article introduces the diplomatic struggle between the Qing Dynasty (China) and France to impose influence in Vietnam from the Franco-Vietnamese Peace Treaty in 1874 to the first Franco-Thanh Agreement in Tianjin (1884). This struggle revealed the plot to divide Tonkin by both sides, especially by the Qing Dynasty. The diplomatic struggle between the two was conducted in two stages: The first phase: from the Giap Tuat Peace Treaty to the late 1870s, the French pulled their troops to Tonkin for the first time and the implicit opposition of the Qing Dynasty through the assertion of its "right to sovereignty" and "responsibility" to its "vassals": Vietnam. The second phase: from the early 1880s to the end of 1883, was the period of confrontation between the Qing and the French over the status of Vietnam. The main and cross-cutting content of the struggle during this period was the French expansion to occupy Tonkin and the Qing Dynasty's official and public opposition to the 1874 Giap Tuat Peace Treaty, especially the Qing request to divide Tonkin with France. The colonial ambitions of both countries in the fight for Tonkin did not lead to any desired results and were the direct cause of the Sino-French war (1883-1885). The Franco-Qing Agreement at Tianjin on 11/5/1884 signalled the defeat of the Qing Dynasty in the early stages of the war, as well as the end of the so-called "sovereignty" of the Qing court over the Hue Dynasty and the beginning of the period of French colonial rule over Vietnam.