Beyond extraterritoriality: The Chengdu riot of 1895 and the politics of protection

Abstract Scholars often analyse Western–Chinese legal conflicts in the nineteenth-century Qing empire through the lens of extraterritoriality. This article examines the 1895 anti-missionary riot in Chengdu and the ensuing dispute over the responsibility of Qing officials. It highlights the protection of foreign lives and property as a key area of contestation between Western powers and the Qing empire. During the riot, Chengdu authorities exploited their discretionary power to challenge missionary presence and undermine treaty obligations. In response, Western powers began a concerted effort to hold local officials accountable by pressuring the Qing state to impose severe punitive sanctions. The riot and its aftermath reveal how a non-Western state negotiated and enforced obligations required by Eurocentric international law. Protection emerges as a multifaceted instrument for the projection of imperial power and a malleable component of the Western-imposed treaty system, mediating the asymmetrical international relations in the nineteenth century.