Ding Ruchang - Nagasaki Incident

Nagasaki Incident

In 1886, Ding participated in show of force, with the Beiyang Fleet touring Hong Kong, the Japanese port of Nagasaki, Korean ports of Busan and Wonsan, and the Russian naval base of Vladivostok. While in Nagasaki on 13 August 1886, a number of drunken sailors from Zhenyuan became involved in a brawl in a local brothel, during which a Japanese police officer was fatally stabbed. In what came to be called the Nagasaki Incident two days later in a riot between local, police and Ding’s sailors six sailors were killed and 45 wounded, along with five Japanese policemen killed and 16 wounded. The riot resulted in a diplomatic incident, but Ding was able to make a second trip to Japan with the Beiyang Fleet in 1891. Ding was promoted to admiral and commander of the Beiyang Fleet from 1888-1894, and was promoted to the position of vice naval minister in 1894.