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Kiautschou Bay concession

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Kiautschou-Lied

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Jiaozhou Bay Aerial View, Jiaozhou Bay Qingdao City, China

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Shandong Problem

The Kiautschou Bay Leased Territory was a German leased territory in Imperial and Early Republican China from 1898 to 1914. Covering an area of 552 km2 (213 sq mi), it centered on Jiaozhou ("Kiautschou") Bay on the southern coast of the Shandong Peninsula. Jiaozhou became romanized as Kiaochow, Kiauchau or Kiao-Chau in English and as Kiautschou or Kiaochau in German. The administrative center was at Tsingtau. It was operated by the East Asia Squadron of the Imperial German Navy. The Russian Empire resented the German move as an infringement on Russian ambitions in the region.