| Signed | 3 June 1896; 129 years ago (3 June 1896) |
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| Location | Moscow,Russian Empire |
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TheLi–Lobanov Treaty or theSino-Russian Secret Treaty (Chinese:中俄密約;Russian:Союзный договор между Российской империей и Китаем) was asecret andunequal treaty signed on June 3, 1896 inMoscow by foreign ministerAlexey Lobanov-Rostovsky on behalf of theRussian Empire and viceroyLi Hongzhang on behalf ofQing China. The treaty and its consequences increased anti-foreign sentiment in China, which came to a head in theBoxer Uprising of 1900.
The contents of the agreement were made public only in 1922.
Following theTreaty of Shimonoseki ending theFirst Sino-Japanese War and theTriple Intervention, China was forced to pay a largeindemnity to theEmpire of Japan (230 million kupingtaels equal to 8,600tonnes ofsilver). In order to raise the funds for this payment, China approachedFrance and Russia for loans. Taking advantage of this situation, Russian finance ministerSergei Witte established theRusso-Chinese Bank, which was controlled by the Russian government, and agreed to facilitate the loans.[1]
Meeting with Li Hongzhang in Moscow during the coronation ceremonies forTsar Nicholas II, Witte promised to maintain Chinese territorial integrity and suggested a secret military alliance against possible future aggression by theEmpire of Japan. In exchange, Russia would be allowed to use Chinese ports for its warships, and to build aRussian gauge railway throughHeilongjiang andJilin toVladivostok on the Pacific coast.[2] Along with the railway concession, Russian personnel and police receivedextraterritorial jurisdiction over large portions ofNortheast China and the permission to station troops to protect the railway.[1] China was also not allowed to interfere with Russian troop movements or munitions and also had to grant Russia decreased tariff rates. To avoid diplomatic issues with the othermajor powers, Li insisted that the concession be granted to the Russo-Chinese Bank, rather than directly to the Russian government,[1] making the railway nominally a joint project, although it was in reality completely financed and controlled by Russia.
The terms of the treaty were tantamount to the annexation of northeast China by Russia in all but name.[1] Rather than protecting China from Japanese territorial ambitions, the treaty opened the door towards further Russian expansionism in the form of theRussia–Qing Convention of 1898, in which China was forced to lease the southern tip of theLiaodong Peninsula to Russia and allowa southern extension of Russia'sChina Eastern Railway to be built from northernHarbin to the port city ofDalian.[3] These events increased anti-foreign sentiment in China, which came to a head in theBoxer Uprising of 1900.
