After the signing of the treaty, the Qing government paid reparations to the great powers as scheduled. However, after 1904, the price of silver fell, and boxer indemnity was calculated according to the price of silver. So,1July 2, 905, countries forced the Qing government to change boxer indemnity into gold debt, and to exchange the reparations already paid in silver for gold, and compensate about 8 million taels.
There are three ways to repay this huge sum:
1. bonds: five kinds of bonds issued by the Qing government, which are handed over to various countries according to the estimated amount, with customs duties, salt taxes and regular tariffs as guarantees. Then, the imperialists put the conventional tariffs within 50 miles of each trading port under the management of the customs and tax authorities under the control of foreigners.
2. Extra payment: "GBP deficit loan". According to the provisions of the Xin Chou Treaty, although the amount of compensation is calculated in silver, the currency used by imperialist countries must be converted into gold coins according to the market price of silver, which is a great loss. This kind of loss is called "pound loss" (represented by the British currency gold pound). In order to raise this extra expense, the Qing government ordered to borrow100000 pounds, 1905 from HSBC in April, with interest of 5% and a term of 20 years.
3. Running a school with G funds: It is one of the important activities of the imperialist countries represented by the United States to use the "boxer indemnity" to carry out spiritual and cultural aggression against China. Smith, who has been engaged in missionary work and business in China for more than 30 years, suggested to the President of the United States on 1906 to "refund the Geng funds" to train China students. 1907, the U.S. congress passed the proposal of "returning Geng Fund's funds for studying in China", which was put into practice in 1909. Since 1923, imperialist countries such as Britain, France, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands have followed suit and used this fund to set up universities, primary schools and even kindergartens.
Has this huge sum been paid off?
Not completed, mainly due to:
1. Impact of World War I: During World War I, China joined the Allies. As a victorious country, stop paying reparations to Germany and Austria, the defeated countries; After the victory of the October Revolution, the Soviet Union also announced in 1920 that it would give up the rest of the Geng funds in Russia. The United States, Britain, Japan and the Netherlands have changed the balance of G- payment to repayment.
2. War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression influence:1On July 7, 937, War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression broke out in an all-round way. China stopped paying reparations to Japan. With the intensification of Japan's invasion of China, the conflict of vested interests between imperialist countries such as Britain and the United States and Japan in China intensified, and China was unable to pay reparations. So Britain, the United States and other countries stopped "boxer indemnity" one after another in 1938. So far, China * * * has paid nearly 653.2 million taels of silver, equivalent to nearly 654.38 billion yuan of silver.