Late Qing: Hurd's competition with the British ambassador to China

Robert Hurd (1835-1911), Northern Ireland, was British in 1854 The Ministry ofForeign Affairs is sent to China. He has worked in the British Consulatesin Ningbo and Guangzhou. He entered China Customs in 1859 and served asthe Deputy Taxation Department of Guangzhou Customs. He took over theduties of the General Taxation Department in 1861 and became the GeneralTaxation Department of the Chinese Customs in 1863 until his death in1911. The conflict between Hurd and the British embassy and consulate inChina is a unique landscape in the history of Sino-British diplomacy in thelate Qing Dynasty. In the negotiation of Sino-British commercial judicialcases, Hurd was on the Chinese side in both speech and action. Hurd helpedthe Chinese and British embassies and consulates win a battle in the Zhenjianglighter case, the "Taiwan" fake list case, the Wuhu Qingma case, andthe Page case.

Hurd

1.

To study the contradiction between Hurd and the British embassy in China, it isnecessary to study the contradiction between Hurd and the British ambassador toChina Wade in the negotiations between China and Britain in Yunnan. OnFebruary 21, 1875, Augustus Raymond Malgary, the translator of the BritishConsulate in Shanghai, was killed in the Manyan region on the border betweenYunnan and Burma. On February 22, an expedition by Horace Albert Brown wasalso attacked here. This is a well-known incident in Yunnan. From 1875 to1876, China and Britain negotiated the Yunnan issue. In the process, Hurdacted as mediator at the invitation of Britain and China. As a result ofHurd's good offices, the Qing government sent Li Hongzhang to Yantai tonegotiate with Wade.

Wade, Hurd and Li Hongzhang arrived in Yantai in mid-August. At this time,the relationship between Hurd and Wade was very cold. Hurd met Wade whenhe arrived in Yantai on August 17. They just shook hands politely andpassed each other. Hurd visited Wade the next day, but Wade was not in hisapartment. On August 19, Hurd visited Li Hongzhang and told him: "WeiShi and Li Hongzhang have a bad relationship because he has a new relationshipwith Li Hongzhang. He was not interviewed here." This shows that Hurd andWade's The relationship has deteriorated. When the contradiction betweenHurd and Wade became apparent on August 20, Wade obviously did his best toavoid meeting Hurd, even if they had met before, he ignored Hurd. Hurdbelieves that Wade was so because of his talks with Li Hongzhang, including histheory that if Wade could not surrender in Yantai, he sent a special envoy tothe UK, which was leaked to Wade by Xu Qian.

Trek

Hurd and the British Ambassador to China are consistent in the generaldirection of safeguarding British interests. However, because they allhave their own interests to defend, there are sometimes differences on someissues. So how will Hurd handle the Sino-British negotiations in which theBritish envoy is involved? In the negotiations on the Yunnan issue, Hurdand Wade had differences on whether they should send a special envoy before theYunnan issue was resolved. Wade is opposed to sending a special envoybefore the Yunnan issue is resolved, and Hurd has always believed that thesooner the special envoy is sent, the better. He wrote in a letter toMarch 16: "If it wasn't for Wade's objection, Guo (Song Tao) would havegone to Britain." During a meeting with Li Hongzhang in Tianjin, he mentionedthat if he mediates in Shanghai Failure, sending a special envoy to Britainwill be the last resort. He volunteered to argue with him. After coming toYantai, the contradiction between Hurd and Wade was made public. Hurdagain suggested sending an envoy to the UK to help and actively promote LiHongzhang's theory. Hurd wrote in his diary on August 25: "As far asDeutling said Li Hongzhang himself would be the best person to go to Britain,he (Li Hongzhang) said 'I know', which shows that my plan has been accepted."On August 29, Hurd wrote in his diary: "I went to Lee Se-e Hung Cheung at8 am and arranged our plan. He would follow suit and said that he would go toBritain himself if necessary. However, due to the rapid progress of theSino-British negotiations, China and Britain finally signed the "YantaiTreaty", which ended the one-and-a-half year negotiations in the Yunnancase between China and Britain, and Hurd's plan failed to materialize.

In the negotiations between China and Britain in the Yunnan case, Hurd and Wadewere consistent in safeguarding British interests, but there were differenceson the way to deal with Sino-British contradictions and some specificissues. In conflict with the British ambassador to China, Hurd showed atendency to handle the Sino-British Yunnan case independently. This is theprelude to Sino-British diplomatic efforts to resolve the Sino-Britishnegotiations in accordance with their respective solutions.

2.

Since February 1874, the "Cadiz" pontoon, owned by Britishmerchant ship Swire Pacific, has been moored on the Zhenjiang River in thelower reaches of the Yangtze River and connected to the British Concessionthrough the pontoon. Last summer, a vortex appeared on the water surface,causing the river bed to sink and the river bank to collapse. Chineselocal authorities and customs ordered the barge to transfer the berth, but itwas rejected. On June 24, 1876, Hurd reported the Zhenjiang lighter caseto the prime minister and told the customs why he moved the lighter. Atthe same time, Hurd also made representations to Wade, the British ambassadorto China, but Wade did not agree to tow the barge, and was veryarrogant. The British embassy even believes that China has given up itssovereign right to open ports and even some waters to China. Hurd was veryangry about this. Given that the case cannot be resolved in Beijing, Hurdsuggested that the Prime Minister's Office refer the case to Guo Songtao, theChinese ambassador to the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister Yamanaccepted Hurd's suggestion and decided to refer the case to Guo Songtao forsettlement in London.

Although the dispute has been transferred to Guo Songtao, Hurd is stillaffecting the negotiation process behind it. In February 1877, Hurd wrotea detailed memorandum for the prime minister in the Zhenjiang barge case, whichwas sent to Guo Songyi by the prime minister. At the same time, Hurd alsoinstructed China's tax department in London, King Denggan, to help Guo Songtaohandle the barge case. In a letter to King Tenggan on April 11, he said:"It has been mentioned that the headquarters is in front of the (foreign)Secretary of State. China's requirements must be met. Its legitimacy is beyonddoubt. All minor issues should be avoided. Guo must decide his own policies,but first he must do his best to get acquainted with the situation and thenformulate an action plan. He must not show his attitude before that. "

Guo Songtao

Whether the barge can be demolished is not only related to China's rights, butalso to the rights of the customs. Therefore, Hurd is very firm in thiscase. Although he knows that even if China wins, the customs will lose thesupport of the British embassy and may even be opposed by the Britishembassy. In a letter to King Denggan on April 11, he said: "Whether aship moves is a trivial matter in itself. However, the power of the Britishembassy to declare itself is too great, jeopardizing a principle and aprotection of rights , Because we must do our best to fight for the lowestlevel-"the last person and the last penny". This is unfortunate andunwise. Since we cannot stop it, we must fight to the end. "

In order to successfully resolve the barge case, Hurd called King Tenggan onJuly 24 and asked him to remember the main point of the barge case: "Chinastill retains all rights in the treaty that belong to the original category ofsovereignty that China did not waive." On August 15, Hurd sent a telegramto King Tenggan. Remind Guo Songtao to avoid minor problems and should refuseto discuss the matter with Wade. On August 31, Hurd sent a telegram again:"Please advise Guo again that there are no minor problems. Just rememberone thing, that whether the reason is given or not, the barge must be moved. Wewill not ask for more More or less. "

In order to help China win this lawsuit, Hurd also asked Jin Denggan to consultthe British legal profession on the Zhenjiang lighter case. Hurd wrote thefirst and second parts of the barge case and sent them to King Tenggan, wherethey were transferred from King Tenggan to the relevant British legalprofessionals. On August 10, 1877, King Deng sent a telegram to Hurd thatthe British Legal Advisory Board agreed with all the arguments put forward byChina. Later, Guo Songtao sent the opinions of the legal advisory board tothe British Foreign Secretary Derby. In addition to consulting Britishlawyers, the case also consulted British engineers. On November 14, 1877,King Tenggan telegraphed Hurd. The engineer's opinion believes that bargesare the main cause of dam damage and must be removed. Guo Songtaoaccordingly sent the engineer's comments to Derby.

Since then, the British Foreign Office has referred the case to a Britishmagistrate's justice of the peace. In the end, the Sino-British Zhenjianglighter case ended with China's victory. Peter wrote to Guo Songtao onFebruary 6, 1878, agreeing to remove the barge.

3.

On February 21, 1878, Fuzhou Customs detained a British ship "Taiwan"carrying three ships of opium (equivalent to 360 pounds) from Hong Kong, whichwas not included in the cargo list submitted to customs. Charles Hannen ofFuzhou's taxation department believes that the captain has issued a forged listof goods and asked the British consul to punish the captain for 500 silver inaccordance with the provisions of the treaty. However, the captain blamedthe two Chinese people (chef and flight attendants) on board, saying theycarried opium on his back, so the cargo list "cannot be consideredcounterfeit" and no fines could be paid. He claimed that the two Chinesewere British servants and must be handed over to British consular trial underconsular jurisdiction. After being questioned by the British consul, thetwo were found "innocent" and the captain naturally did not have topay a fine. Hugh Fraser, then acting British Minister, supported theruling. To protect the customs system, the Prime Minister's office askedHurd to invite British lawyers to sue the UK's supreme legal authority throughKing Tenggan.

Hurd returned to Europe for vacation in the spring of 1878. Afterreceiving a call from the Prime Minister's Yemen, Hurd wrote a letter to KingTenggan asking him to help consult the British legal community's views on the"fake list" and told King Tenggan: "What we want to hear is Anythingthat should be included, then the list is a fake list (that is, it is just afake, not a deliberate fake).

The legal profession consulted by King Tenggan agreed that Hurd'sinterpretation of the "fake list" was correct. Therefore, Hurd askedKing Tenggan to call the Prime Minister's office, saying:

The cargo list for the ship must describe all the goods on board. Theso-called cargo on board refers to all cargo carried on board, whether it istaxable, duty-free, embargoed or without bill of lading. People in thelegal profession strongly support the Customs interpretation of Article 37 ofthe Sino-British Treaty, and criticize the consulate's interpretation. Theopinion of the legal community also states that after the customs has found anomission, the master must not correct any errors on the ship's cargo manifest,unless it is a pure transcription error. If Fleisce refuses to accept anexplanation from the customs, he can ask the Prime Minister's Office to notifythe Chinese Minister in London of the "Taiwan" counterfeit goods listand give a clear and sufficient explanation in chronological order.

Since Fleisce did not accept the interpretation of the British legalprofession, the Prime Minister's Office submitted this case to the ChineseEmbassy in the UK based on Hurd's opinion. King Tenggan helped the Chineseambassador to the UK, Zeng Jize, draft an official letter to the BritishForeign Secretary, Lord Salisbury. Lord Sharimar said after receiving anofficial letter from Zeng Jize, the British government would immediatelyconsider the "Taiwan" fake list. However, the result of itsconsideration was opposition to China's interpretation and support of theBritish consul's decision in Fuzhou. In response, Hurd believed that ZengJize should write a letter to Lord Sharimar, insisting on his owninterpretation, and pointed out that the famous British jurists also held thesame view. Zeng Jize accepted Hurd's opinion and wrote to Lord Sharimar,expressing regret that the views of the British government are different fromthose of the Chinese government and its British legal adviser. It does notmatter whether the "Taiwan" captain was fined. The importantpoint is whether the manifest includes all the goods to be delivered inaccordance with customs requirements, or only those goods issued by the masterwith a bill of lading, as the consulate thinks.

Tseng Chi-tse

To help jize and Lord Shalimaer consultation "Taiwan" Leave Act, Hartsent a telegram to Kingdon dry:. "Germany modified the Treaty of Ministershas agreed to include in the file any required customs permission to cargounilateral load and unload ships must be listed in the list on any omissions,regardless of whether the goods delivery document holders, would constitute afalse manifest. If you send this notice carefully Shalimar, negotiations shouldbe Marquis Yi of Zeng help. "

to the law and the United Kingdom The discussion was held in the industry, andKing Tenggan and Hurd's legal counsel Hutchins prepared a lengthycase. Due to the heavy workload, the case was not closed until the end of1879. Hurd was a little worried. He is still very eager to bring thenegotiations in this case to the end. On March 12, 1880, Hurd wrote toKing Denggan saying:

I hope your Christmas scam

In fact, King Tenggan has been carefully preparing the fake "Taiwan"bill, hoping to hand it over to the legal adviser to the Chinese embassy in theUK before Gladstone, the leader of the British Liberal Party. As Britishlawyers Henry James and Herschel, who were consulted by King Tenggan, may nowbe promoted to the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General of the BritishProsecutor's Office, King Tenggan wrote to Hurd in excitement: "It is timeto resolve any outstanding issues." However, He Germany is relativelycalm, believing that James and Herschel have received compensation from Chinaand will not comment on China's case in the Ministry of ForeignAffairs. Hurd told King Tenggan: "Remember, we just want topunish" Taiwan "for a few dollars to show violations, but we hope tohave a clear understanding of this shipment and fake list in the future.Although the German revised draft has not yet been approved but it can solvethis problem for Germany. Anything that requires a license to load and unloadships (with or without a bill of lading) is a cargo ship, any person without alicense will be shown a forged document. "

Grice In the

end, the British government agreed with Hurd's interpretation of the"Taiwan" fake case and imposed a fine on "Taiwan". OnJuly 14, 1882, Hurd wrote to Jin Denggan, saying: "Wade just said that hewas going to fine Taiwan." On August 14, Wade again indicated to Hurd thathe was willing to accept a fine for "Taiwan." And finally decided toimpose a fine of 100 customs dollars. On August 24, Hurd sent a telegramto Jin Denggan: "The Taiwan case has been resolved and a customs fine of $100 has been imposed." At this point, the "Taiwan" fake case,which took more than 4 years, finally came to an end.