Life and death: piracy and british steamboat business on the west river (1897-1907)

Abstract

The treaty ports of Wuchow and Samshui on the West River were opened to foreign trade in 1897. Various British steamboat companies ran passenger lines plying between Hong Kong, Canton and the above treaty ports. These British steamers were under the competition from Chinese vessels which could call at non-treaty ports, and the threat from piratical attacks on the West River. However, British steamers still enjoyed an advantage over its Chinese competitors: British flag had the prestige that pirates would not dare to kill people travelling under it. The piracy case of S.S. Sainam witnessed the bankruptcy of this prestige. This paper is going to analyze the roles of the Hong Kong government, the Canton Viceroy and the China Association in formulating the ways of suppressing piracy and regulating steam navigation on the West River. It argues that uneasy balance between the sovereign rights of China and the interests of the British mercantile community was accounted the prolong outrages of piracy on the West River.