36°7′24.44″N120°14′44.3″E / 36.1234556°N 120.245639°E /36.1234556; 120.245639
| Jiaozhou Bay | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Map of Jiaozhou Bay in 1865 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 胶州湾 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 膠州灣 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Postal | Kiaochow Bay Kiautschou Bay(1898–1922) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| German name | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| German | Kiautschou Bucht | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Jiaozhou Bay (simplified Chinese:胶州湾;traditional Chinese:膠州灣;pinyin:Jiāozhōu Wān; German:Kiautschou Bucht) is abay located in theprefecture-level city ofQingdao (Tsingtau),Shandong Province,China.
The bay has historically been romanized asKiaochow,Kiauchau orKiao-Chau inEnglish andKiautschou inGerman.
Jiaozhou Bay is a natural inlet of theYellow Sea, with a depth of 10 to 15 metres (33 to 49 ft) and deeper,dredged channels to three major ports around the bay: Qingdao, Huangdao, and Hongdao, all of which are ice-free during winter.
The bay is located on the southern coast of theShandong Peninsula inEast China, and separatesHuangdao District from Qingdao City and borders onJiaozhou City.
The bay is 32 kilometres (17 nmi; 20 mi) long and 27 kilometres (15 nmi; 17 mi) wide with asurface area of 362 square kilometres (106 sq nmi; 140 sq mi), approximately two-thirds the area of 100 years ago. According to official data,[1] the surface area has decreased from 560 square kilometres (163 sq nmi; 216 sq mi) in 1928 to 362 square kilometres (106 sq nmi; 140 sq mi) by 2003 due to sustainedland reclamation activities in recent decades.
The marine species have also decreased by two-thirds during the last 50 years[2] due to urban and industrial development and growth of adjacent areas around the bay. Out of 170 species of organisms found in the northwestern part of the basin during the 1970s, only 17 were found in 1989.[3]False killer whales still occasionally appear in the waters which were a regular range for the species until the 1980s.[4] On the other hand, Jiaozhou Bay may serve as a suitable location for studying recoveries of coastal marine ecosystems.[5]
Jiaozhou Bay was known formerly asJiao'ao (simplified Chinese:胶澳;traditional Chinese:膠澳;pinyin:Jiāo'ào). During theQing dynasty, it developed a large junk trade when a customs station was established near its shores, in Qingdao.[6]
The area became widely known to Europeans after theGerman Empire in March 1898 concluded a lease with the Qing government of China. Through this lease, the area was transferred to German rule on a 99-year lease (or until 1997, as the British did inHong Kong'sNew Territories and as the French did inKouang-Tchéou-Wan), and it became known as theKiautschou Bay concession. The village ofTsingtau became the German colony ofTsingtau, and the area became a focus for German commercial development in China, while for theImperial German Navy it was the base for theirEast Asia Squadron.
Because of land speculation in Germany's African colonies, aland value tax was introduced as the only tax in the colony. It was a great success, bringing wealth quite rapidly to the colony and also financial stability.[7] The colony was the only government authority ever to exclusively rely on thesingle tax on land value, and is used as an academic case study to this day about the viability of such a tax system. The German colony also issued currency.[8][9]
With the outbreak ofWorld War I, theRepublic of China cancelled the Kiautschou lease with the German Empire. This came into force on 23 August 1914, the day ofJapan's declaration of war on Germany, after a Japanese ultimatum for unconditional German evacuation of the colony had expired. Following a two month military siege by British and Japanese forces, the colony was forced to surrender. It was then occupied by the British and Japanese.
The Republic of China declared war on Imperial Germany on 14 August 1917, since as a member of the victorious allies, China fully expected the former German colony would be returned to them. Instead, theTreaty of Versailles acceded to Japanese demands at theParis Peace Conference and assigned all former German Pacific territories and islands north of the equator to Japan, including Jiaozhou Bay.[10] This unexpected decision led to China-wide protests known as the "May Fourth Movement", which is now regarded as a significant event of modern Chinese history. As a result, theBeiyang government refused to sign the Treaty.[11]
This situation was known as the "Shandong Problem". It eventually was resolved through mediation by theUnited States, which led to the former colony's return to Chinese sovereignty in February 1922.[12]
Jiaozhou Bay is situated wholly within the administrative boundaries ofQingdao. Counterclockwise, the bordering divisions areShinan District,Shibei District,Sifang District,Licang District,Chengyang District,Jiaozhou City,Jiaonan City, andHuangdao District. The entrance to the bay is 6.17 km wide. In 1993, Qingdao City decided to build a traffic corridor for the Jiaozhou Bay region, which includes a tunnel under the inlet and a bridge across Jiaozhou Bay. The construction started in 2006. The bridge and the tunnel were both opened in 2011.
