Shimonoseki, Treaty of

Shimonoseki, Treaty of, Apr. 17, 1895, ending the First Sino-Japanese War. It was negotiated and signed by Ito Hirobumi for Japan and Li Hung-chang for China. Harsh terms were imposed on a badly defeated China. The treaty provided for the end of Chinese suzerainty over Korea, giving Korea independence, and for the cession to Japan of Taiwan, the Pescadores islands, and Port Arthur and the Liaodong peninsula. Japan also imposed a large indemnity and forced China to open five new treaty ports. A week after the treaty was signed, however, Russia, France, and Germany together—in the so-called Triple Intervention—demanded that Japan renounce claims to Port Arthur and the Liaodong peninsula. Japan reluctantly agreed (Nov., 1895), but China was forced to pay an additional indemnity.