Qishan of the Qing Dynasty. knowing the…

January 1841 CE

Qishan of the Qing Dynasty. knowing the strategic value of the Pearl River Delta to China and aware that British naval superiority made a reconquest of the region unlikely, attempts to prevent the war from widening further by negotiating a peace treaty with Britain.

Charles Elliot and Qishan agree to the Convention of Chuenpi on January 20, 1841.

To force Chinese concessions, the British had captured the forts at the entrance of the Humen strait (Bogue) on January 7, 1841, after which Qishan had agreed to consider Elliot's demands.

Negotiations had ensued at the Bogue near Chuenpi.

On January 11, Qishan had offered to "grant a place outside the estuary to lodge temporarily".

He had later written to Elliot on January 15, offering either Hong Kong Island or Kowloon but not both.

Elliot had replied the next day, accepting Hong Kong.

On January 15, trader James Matheson had written to his business partner William Jardine that Elliot had arrived in Macao the night before: "I learn from him very confidentially that Ki Shen [Qishan] has agreed to the British having a possession of their own outside, but objects to ceding Chuenpee; in lieu of which Captain Elliot has proposed Hong Kong".

One factor that may have led to settling on Hong Kong was the perceived ambiguity of the Chinese language.

Matheson believed that when Qishan wrote "as we have granted you territory you do not now require another port", Elliot as a result gave up demands of British access to a port in northern China in the hope that he could hold Qishan to an interpretation of the Chinese characters in which the British had been ceded Hong Kong rather than just being given a trading factory there.

The convention will establish equal diplomatic rights between Britain and China, exchange Hong Kong Island for Chusan, facilitate the release of shipwrecked and kidnapped British citizens held by the Chinese, and reopen trade in Canton by February 1, 1841.

China will also pay six million silver dollars as recompense for the opium destroyed at Humen in 1838.

However, the legal status of the opium trade is not resolved and instead left open to be discussed at a future date.

The terms are published on January 20, 1841, but both governments will reject them and dismiss Elliot and Qishan, respectively, from their positions.

Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston will state that Elliot had acquired too little while the Daoguang Emperor believes Qishan has conceded too much.

Palmerston will appoint Major-General Henry Pottinger to replace Elliot, while the emperor will appoint Yang Fang to replace Qishan, along with Yishan as General-in-Chief of Repressing Rebellion and Longwen as an assistant regional commander.

Although the convention will go unratified, many of the terms will later be included in the Treaty of Nanking (1842).