Asia 731
Fatalities: None
Narrative: This dispute arises out of the Tianjin Massacre of June 21, 1870. After
rumors circulated that a church was encouraging the kidnapping of children in order
to baptize them, a riot broke out. Two French ministers were killed and four British
and American churches were burned. Foreign gunboats quickly anchored off Tianjin.
The countries that entered into the conflict on the side of France were Great Britain
and the United States. On October 5, 1870, courts in China, under the pressure of the
foreign powers involved, ordered that the two men responsible for the Tianjin Mas-
sacre be sent into lifelong exile.
Coding changes: Dropped from the dispute: 325 Italy. Added to the dispute: 200
United Kingdom.
MID#506
Dispute Number: 506
Date(s): July 12, 1881 to August 1881
Participants: 710 China/220 France
Outcome (and Settlement): Unclear (None)
Fatalities: None
Narrative: The Chinese governor of Kwangsi dispatched troops into the Tongking
region of northern Vietnam in anticipation of a French advance into that region.
MID#507
Dispute Number: 507
Date(s): April 2, 1882 to May 1882
Participants: 220 France/710 China
Outcome (and Settlement): Unclear (None)
Fatalities: None
Narrative: After the French captured Hanoi, China dispatched a small fleet to Viet-
namese waters and sent troops into northern Vietnam. China remained worried that
French forces would venture into their territory.
Coding changes: Start Date changed from April 25, 1882. End Date changed from
June 17, 1882.
MID#202
Dispute Number: 202
Date(s): April 14, 1883 to June 9, 1885
Participants: 710 China/220 France
Outcome (and Settlement): Victory for side B (Negotiated)
Fatalities: >999 deaths
Narrative: The Sino-French War of 1883 paved the way for the establishment of
French Indochina. France desired to expand its empire into Southeast Asia, target-
ing the rest of present-day Vietnam to add to what it already had in central Vietnam,
which posed a problem for China. Though Vietnam was nominally independent, it