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Chapter 740 The dispute over consular jurisdiction

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    The interrogation of the main messenger of the "May 30th Massacre", the British Concession Chief Inspector Mai Gaoyun and the arrester Ai Fusheng, who were arrested by the Shanghai People's Government and the People's Army, caused great twists and turns.

    The British government used the so-called "consular jurisdiction" as an excuse to require the Republic of China government to hand over the two men and let the British try them instead.  Smith, the British Consul General in Shanghai, even said arrogantly that "Chinese people in the concession have no right to interrogate foreigners. This is tradition"!

    The so-called "consular jurisdiction" is a system in which a country exercises jurisdiction over its own nationals in the territory of another country in accordance with its own laws through its consuls stationed abroad.  This is a kind of extraterritoriality, and its existence constitutes an exception or violation of the country's territorial superiority.

    Initially, after the Crusades (11th to 13th centuries), Western countries began to implement this system in Eastern countries.  At that time, European businessmen who settled in Eastern countries elected consuls among themselves to handle disputes between their own businessmen.

    With the development of history, the consular powers of Western countries have further expanded. By the 19th century, through unequal treaties, they imposed the consular jurisdiction system on Asian and African countries¡ªChina, Japan, Siam (Thailand), Persia, and Egypt.  etc., causing serious damage to the territorial sovereignty of these countries.

    In the modern history of China, the abolition of consular jurisdiction has always been written in the pursuit of patriotism and national salvation struggle.

    Consular jurisdiction is a privileged system imposed by imperialist powers on colonies and semi-colonies.  According to this unequal system, expatriates from colonial countries are not subject to the laws of the country of residence, which opens the door for foreign powers to arbitrarily oppress and enslave the people of colonial and semi-colonial countries. They can do whatever they want without taking responsibility.

    Its specific manifestation is: when an alien commits a crime in the country of residence, or becomes a defendant in a civil lawsuit, he or she will only be tried by the consul or court of the country of residence in accordance with the laws of the country of residence, but the country of residence cannot hold him legally responsible.

    The country that has suffered the longest and most profound impact from the consular jurisdiction system imposed by Western countries is China.  The provisions of the "Five-Port Trade Charter" between China and Britain in 1843 can be said to be the beginning of the consular jurisdiction system in China.

    The 1844 "Wangxia Treaty between China and the United States" stipulates that criminal cases between the Chinese and American people shall be handled according to the defendant system, and mixed civil cases between China and the United States shall be "ascertained and discussed publicly by officials of the two countries"; cases between Americans shall be handled by the U.S. consul  Litigation between Americans and foreign nationals shall be handled by the officials of the relevant countries themselves, and Chinese officials shall not interfere.

    The 1844 Sino-French Treaty, the 1847 Treaty between China and Sweden and Norway, and the 1858 Sino-Russian Treaty all have similar provisions.  The Sino-British Treaty of Tianjin in 1858, in addition to the principle of defendant doctrine, also stipulated the "joint trial" system that "both countries must jointly and fairly judge all matters negotiated by the two countries."

    The 1876 Sino-British "Yantai Treaty" also stipulated the "observation and review" system in which the plaintiff's domestic officials can "go to the hearing official to observe the trial" and "can debate in detail" if they have different opinions.

    Others include the "Treaty of Whampoa" between China and France, the "Ili Tarbachatai Trade Regulations" that Tsarist Russia forced the Qing government to sign in 1851, the "Principles of the Russian Government's Supervision of Manchuria" concocted by Tsarist Russia in 1900, and a series of other inequalities.  In the treaty, there are provisions for the great powers to seize consular jurisdiction in China.

    In addition to the above-mentioned treaties, many Western countries have also obtained consular jurisdiction in China by invoking the most-favored-nation clause.  There are more than 20 countries that once enjoyed consular jurisdiction in China, namely Britain, France, the United States, Russia, Germany, Japan, Austria-Hungary, Italy, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Peru, Mexico, Chile,  Sweden, Switzerland, Brazil, etc.

    The extraterritorial jurisdiction enjoyed by foreign countries in China is not only exercised by courts composed of consulates in China, but also by specially established courts.  For example, the United States established a court in China based on legislation passed by Congress in 1906. Its status in the U.S. judicial system is equal to that of the federal district court.

    According to the Order of the Privy Council in 1925, the United Kingdom established the Supreme Court in Shanghai and established a provincial court in each consular jurisdiction outside Shanghai, with the consul in charge serving as the chief judge.

    In order to realize the above-mentioned "observation" and "joint trial" methods, a joint trial system was established.  Moreover, what was originally a mutual observation changed to only allowing foreign consuls to go to Chinese official offices to watch the trials of cases in which foreigners were the plaintiffs, while Chinese officials were not allowed to go to the consular courts to watch the trials of cases in which Chinese were the plaintiffs.

    The joint review also greatly exceeded the provisions of the original treaty.  Foreign consuls not only intervened in litigation cases between China and foreign countries, but also usurped jurisdiction over litigation cases involving purely Chinese people in the concession.

    The purpose of establishing the Judicial Court is to serve as a tribunal to review the activities of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce Bureau.  The SMC, which had real power and acted largely independently, was composed of five British, two Americans and two Japanese.  There is no Chinese representative in the Ministry of Industry and Industry BureauIt implements its expressed will to improve the judicial system and achieve equality with the European and American countries, and declares that it is ready to give up its extraterritorial rights once China's legal status, the methods for implementing the law, and other matters are satisfied."

    It was also at this meeting that it was decided that after the meeting, each country would send personnel to establish a China Legal Rights Investigation Committee to go to China for investigation and guidance.  But the commission was not formed until 1926 to go to China.

    But consular jurisdiction is not irrevocable. Japan canceled all foreign privileges of the great powers in Japan after the Sino-Japanese War.  What China can imitate is that China needs a victorious war to reflect China's power. Historically, after China's liberation war, these privileges were like soap bubbles that burst with all kinds of colors in the sun.

    Now, Zhang Hanqing wants to complete this kind of change ahead of schedule that is related to the dignity of the Chinese people.

    This premise is to use Chinese justice to publicly try Mai Gaoyun and Aifusheng, but there are many obstacles.

    The British Empire is a lean camel bigger than a horse. If the Chinese government is allowed to try these two people, it will undoubtedly lose its face; and in a sense, if this approach becomes a reality, the "consular jurisdiction"  It ended without a cure and effectively disappeared in China.

    Britain has 20 million square kilometers of colonies. As long as it is a place that is not too important, it doesn¡¯t really matter if there is one more or one less.  The insistence on Hankou and Jiujiang is just because we are worried that the domino effect will cause other colonies to be ready to move, and we do not really want to hold on to them.

    Just to maintain such a vast area, the British Empire did not have enough troops to sustain a war that might last a long time, so it dared not respond to Zhang Hanqing's war clamor.

    They know that they may eventually defeat China, but they will also be scarred. So, who can guarantee that the people of other colonies will not take advantage of this God-given opportunity to achieve national independence?  If it wants to maintain its position as a strong power, it cannot get caught up in any war between any big country that is not too weak.

    This is the same strategy as that of the United States in later generations: after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the world had a situation of one superpower and multiple powers.  The United States can strategically squeeze any regional power such as China, France, Germany, and Russia, or it can fight a war through proxies, but it will never get involved.

    Because against any strong force, if you want to win, it will be a protracted and heavy-injury contest. Even if you win miserably, you will definitely be demoted from the "superior" status. This is something that no boss is willing to do.  .

    There are many painful historical lessons. Take the United States as an example. Its two wars in Asia, North Korea and Vietnam, were modeled on direct or indirect collisions with the regional power China. As a result, they came back defeated and were overtaken by the Soviet Union. They had no choice but to comprehensively  Go on the defensive.

    So Britain can actually accept the loss of its colonies.  China is so big, has such a large population, and the country is beginning to become stronger and stronger. Continuing with this old approach will not work.

    It is because Zhang Hanqing understood this that he was so tough before and after negotiations.

    ???????????????????????? But it is difficult for it to admit it from the bottom of its heart, because it is a more terrible thing than the loss of the colony.  The reason why I say this is that maintaining the detached status of British citizens around the world is actually a kind of hegemony, and it is also one of the means by which they maintain such a large colony with very little manpower - a superior status.

    The relationship between the suzerain and the colony is the relationship between the ruler and the ruled.  I have judicial control over you, which is actually a kind of sovereign control. Sovereignty includes legislation, administration and justice.  The British enjoyed public houses in their colonies, which strengthened the relationship between the rulers and the ruled in consciousness.

    ¡°If British subjects were tried in their colonies, where were the symbols of its rule?

    ¡°In addition, if the trial of the two British people is agreed to, the result will definitely be even worse, which will greatly damage the face of the British Empire.  Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the May 30th Incident happened entirely because the British did not take the lives of Chinese workers and students seriously.  After the results come out, the British will inevitably apologize to China for their crimes. This will be another painful process.

    So the British Minister took another thing: the Chinese army "massacred" the British troops and the Chinese artillery bombarded the British ships. They also have to investigate and try the parties involved.  The reason is that these two successive incidents caused great losses to the British soldiers.  (Remember the website address: www.hlnovel.com
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