{{Short description|Chinese statesman}} {{Distinguish|Li Jinfang}} {{more citations needed|date=January 2009}} [[File:-Profile- Jingfang LI.png|thumb|Li Jingfang]]
'''Li Jingfang''' [[GCVO]] (李經方; 1854 – 28 September 1934), also known as Li Ching-fong, was a Chinese statesman during the [[Qing]] dynasty. Being the nephew and adopted son of the late statesman [[Li Hongzhang]], he served in his adoptive father's secretariat in his youth. In 1882, Li Jingfang obtained the second highest degree in the [[imperial examinations]] and subsequently obtained appointment in the Qing foreign service because of his knowledge of English. In 1886–89, he worked as a secretary to the Qing legation in [[London]] and in 1890-92 he served as the Qing [[minister (diplomacy)|minister]] to [[Japan]]. He is mostly known for having signed the Sino-Japanese [[Treaty of Shimonoseki]] in Li Hongzhang's stead in 1895. He was appointed as an Honorary Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order by Queen Victoria in 1896 and was promoted to an Honorary Knight Grand Cross a few years later in 1909. He also served as the Chinese Minister to London in 1909–1910.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/55263?msg=welcome_stranger|title=Thirteen Years of a Busy Woman's Life|last=Alec-Tweedie|first=Mrs (Ethel)|author-link=Ethel Brilliana Tweedie|date=2017-08-04|language=English}}</ref>
== Life == Li Jingfang was originally the son of Li Zhaoqing, the sixth younger brother of Li Hongzhang. In 1862, Li Hongzhang was over 40 years old and still had no children, so Li Zhaoqing adopted Li Jingfang to Li Hongzhang, who referred to him as his "eldest son."
In 1877, Li Jingfang and his eldest younger brother Li Jingshu studied at the [[Viceroy of Zhili]]'s Office in Tianjin under the tutelage of Hong Rukui. In 1890, he was appointed [[Resident minister|Resident Minister]] to Japan.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Qingshilu: Da-Qing Dezong Jing Huangdi shilu |volume=287 |at=828-1 |language=zh}}</ref> In 1894, the Sino-Japanese Yellow Sea Battle ([[Battle of the Yalu River (1894)|Battle of the Yalu River]]) broke out, and Li Jingfang returned to China.
In 1895, Li Jingfang accompanied Li Hongzhang to Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture in Japan to negotiate the Treaty of Shimonoseki. As the Qing government's plenipotentiary, he was responsible for "handing over Taiwan" and was thus known as the "Taiwan Cession Envoy".<ref>{{Cite book |title=Annotations to the Draft History of the Qing Dynasty |series=2 |volume=24 |at=968 |language=zh-tw}}</ref> On June 1, Li Jingfang arrived in Taiwan on the German steamship Gerechtigkeit. On June 2, accompanied by translators Lu Yongming and Tao Dajun, he signed the "Taiwan Handover Document" with Admiral [[Kabayama Sukenori]], the first Japanese [[Governor-General of Taiwan]], off the coast of [[Cape Santiago (Taiwan)|Cape Santiago]] in [[Keelung]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-08-27 |title=120年前的台湾独立战争 |url=https://www.peoplenews.tw/news/3099c9f6-c8f1-4924-80b6-7cdbcb034aee |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190302090725/https://www.peoplenews.tw/news/3099c9f6-c8f1-4924-80b6-7cdbcb034aee |archive-date=2019-03-02 |access-date=2024-07-09 |website=民报 |language=zh-tw}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=依約接收 |url=https://archives.ith.sinica.edu.tw/collections_con.php?no=166 |access-date=2024-07-09 |website=The Archives of the Institute of Taiwan History, Academia Sinca |language=zh-tw}}</ref> The document stipulated that "all forts, arsenals, and public property belonging to the various ports and prefectures of the entire island of Taiwan and the Penghu Islands" would be handed over to Japan. Li Jingfang chose to conduct the sovereignty handover on board a Japanese warship off the coast of Keelung to avoid angry locals.<ref>{{Cite book |last=思痛子 |title=台海恩恸录 |language=zh}}</ref> Kabayama had asked Li "why not go ashore to sign it," to which Li replied, "The Taiwanese people are very resentful and I am afraid of being assassinated."
In 1905, Li Jingfang was appointed Minister of Commerce by the Qing government.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Annotations to the Draft History of the Qing Dynasty |series=2 |volume=24 |pages=1007 |language=zh-tw}}</ref> In 1907, he became Resident Minister to Britain.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Annotations to the Draft History of the Qing Dynasty |series=10 |volume=219 |pages=7609–7612 |language=zh-tw}}</ref> In 1911, he was transferred to the post of Left Vice-Minister of Posts and Communications.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Annotations to the Draft History of the Qing Dynasty |series=8 |volume=203 |pages=6241 |language=zh-tw}}</ref> After much effort to negotiate with foreigners, Li Jingfang was appointed the first Director-General of the Chinese General Postal Administration.
==References== {{Commons category|Li Jingfang}} {{Reflist}}
{{Ambassadors of China to Japan}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Jingfang}} [[Category:1854 births]] [[Category:1934 deaths]] [[Category:Politicians from Hefei]] [[Category:Ambassadors of China to Japan]] [[Category:19th-century Chinese diplomats]] [[Category:Businesspeople from Anhui]] [[Category:Ambassadors of China to the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order]]