Why did john hay issue the open door policy?

Answer 1

The Open Door notes from John Hay were issued in 1899 to keep European powers from dividing up The Congo Basin and China. The US had become a Far Eastern power after acquiring The Philippine Islands following the Spanish-American war. It said that Africa (the Congo) and China were not to be partitioned by European powers. The unanimous acceptance of Hay's proposal made the Open Door an international policy. After WWII China became a completely sovereign state, and no nation had any right to carve out spheres of influence and the Open Door policy ceased to exist.

Answer 2

The United States began to fear that China would be carved into colonies and American traders would be shut out. To pro- tect American interests, U.S. Secretary of State John Hay issued, in 1899, a series of policy statements called the Open Door notes. The notes were letters addressed to the leaders of imperialist nations proposing that the nations share their trading rights with the United States, thus creating an open door. This meant that no single nation would have a monopoly on trade with any part of China. The other imperialist powers reluctantly accepted this policy.

Answer 3

The purpose of John Hay's Open Door Policy was the promotion of equal opportunity in international commerce and trade. This was supposed to occur between China and the U.S.