A detailed list of the terms of the Sino-British Yantai Treaty

Britain, France and other countries want to open the inland "back door" after opening the coastal gateway of China and the Yangtze River. Since the 1960s, they have been exploring the routes from Myanmar and Vietnam to Yunnan. 1874, Britain once again sent a reconnaissance team headed by Colonel Brown to explore the land traffic between Myanmar and Yunnan under the escort of nearly 200 armed soldiers. The British embassy in China sent Margaret, an interpreter, to meet him in the south. 1875 65438+ 10, Ma Jiali met Blanc in bhamo, Myanmar, and then headed for the Yunnan-Myanmar border. On February 2 1, there was a conflict with local ethnic minorities near Tengyue Manyun, Yunnan, and Ma Jiali and several entourage were killed. This is the "Ma Jiali Incident", or the "Yunnan Case".

Britain immediately seized this incident to expand its aggression against China. 1 In March, 875, British Minister Wade formally put forward six demands to the Qing government:1. British officials participated in the investigation of the Ma Jiali case; 2. The British and Indian governments may send another exploration team to Yunnan if necessary; 3. Compensation 1.5 million yuan; 4. Immediately agree on the way to realize the preferential treatment for foreign ministers stipulated in the Sino-British Tianjin Treaty; 5. Agree on ways to exempt British enterprises from all kinds of burdens except conventional taxes and semi-taxes; 6. Solve outstanding cases over the years. In the following year and a half, he negotiated intermittently with the Qing government, constantly threatened to withdraw troops, break off diplomatic relations and use force, and blackmailed in various ways to realize these extensive aggression demands and make them enlarged and concrete. 2 1,1In August, 876 (the second year of Guangxu), Li Hongzhang and Wade formally started negotiations in Yantai, and the Sino-British Yantai Treaty was signed in September, 13.

The Sino-British Yantai Treaty, also known as the Yunnan Case Treaty, is divided into three parts, 16, with a "separate clause". The main contents of the first part are as follows: China paid 202,000 silver to Britain; China sent representatives to Britain to express "regret" over the Yunnan incident; Yunnan authorities should negotiate with officials sent by Britain to formulate the Yunnan-Myanmar trade regulations; From 1877, within five years, the British sent officials to Dali, Yunnan or other suitable places to inspect the trade situation; Britain still reserves the right to send personnel from India to Yunnan. The second part actually involves the handling of Chinese and foreign judicial cases and official exchanges. The main contents are as follows: the Prime Minister's yamen should "send a note to the ambassadors of various countries in Beijing" and ask them to agree to the unified regulations of the yamen on the trial of foreign cases at trading ports; "Where there are cases involving British life and property in mainland provinces or trading ports", the British envoy can send personnel to "sit in on the trial", and "if the observers think that they have not handled it properly, they can debate them carefully one by one"; In the case of Sino-foreign negotiations, the nationality of the defendant, that is, the officials of that country, will be tried by the officials of the country where the defendant is located according to their own laws. These provisions expand the extraterritorial jurisdiction of Britain in China. The third part is "trade affairs", which mainly includes: opening Yichang, Wuhu, Wenzhou and Beihai as trade ports; Allow British merchant ships to dock and unload at Datong, Anqing, Hukou and Shashi along the river; Every concession has no foreign goods; If the concession of new and old trading ports has not been demarcated, it shall be "demarcated". In addition, it is stipulated in the article on another discussion that Britain can send reconnaissance teams to Tibet from Beijing via Gansu, Qinghai or Sichuan, or India.

The Sino-British Yantai Treaty not only ended the Yunnan case according to the British government's intention, but also realized Britain's desire to expand its trade privileges in China for more than ten years, and obtained the so-called "treaty right" to invade China's southwest frontier (Tibet and Yunnan). Britain's rights and interests in China obtained from the Sino-British Yantai Treaty were soon "completely absorbed" by other powers.

Original text of the treaty:

1September 13th, 876, July 26th, Guangxu, Yantai.

Qing imperial envoys Lian Xing, Wen Hua Tang, college students, Zhili governor, first-class Su Yibo Li; British imperial envoy to China, Minister of Cheap Handling, awarded second-class Bao Xingwei;

As for the terms of the meeting, our ministers and others are discussing everything now, because in the spring of this year, Minister Wei got permission from the prime ministers of various countries, Earl de, and went to consult on the fifth day of December last year and told him how to deal with the various terms. There are three purposes: first, solve the problem properly with the Yunnan case; Second, the exchange part between China and foreign ministers determined last year was handled properly, which reflected persistence; Third, we agreed to rectify trade affairs in August last year, and all the reasons were followed. At present, Minister Wei, together with the Commercial Office, has always focused on defending this State of the Union address. The above three paragraphs are all negotiations between Minister Wei and the Prime Minister's yamen, so I don't need to repeat them. Today, I agree with Li and list the articles as follows:

The first ending of Zhao Xue's Yunnan case

1. Minister Wei plans to make a draft of the Yunnan case as the first draft, which can be agreed with Li first, or by the Prime Minister's yamen or by Li. But before the performance, the manuscript must be handed over to Minister Wei for reading and consulting.

Second, after copying the imperial edict, the Prime Minister's yamen recorded the folding draft and imperial edict, which were circulated to all provinces, listed in detail in the notice, and submitted to the Minister of Health for inspection together with a note. Minister Wei immediately replied to the statement that the British envoy to Beijing would send personnel to the provinces at any time to check the posting of notices for two years. In the future, either the British ambassador to Beijing will write the words or the consular officials will turn the words into notes, that is, local officials will send designated officials to visit various places together.

Third, how to clearly define the articles of association of all the sections bordering Yunnan Province and Myanmar, and ask the Governor of Yunnan and the Governor to make an order together in the discussion and conclusion of the Yunnan case. When British officials arrive in Yunnan, they will send appropriate officials to conduct appropriate negotiations with them.

Fourth, from the first day of the first month of the British calendar year, that is, November 17, the second year of Guangxu, for a period of five years, British officials will be stationed in Dali Prefecture, Yunnan Province or other suitable places to inspect the trade situation and make sure of the articles of association; And all matters concerning British officials and people should be handled by this official and provincial officials at any time. Or within five years or when it expires, Britain will decide when to start trading. Until last year, it was proposed that India should send personnel to Yunnan, and once the passport was issued, it was up to the Indian Minister of Economy to decide at any time to send personnel to handle it properly.

Five, where the families of the victims in Yunnan, should be given a pension, and the money used in the Yunnan case, and because the local officials did not agree to repay the British business two years ago, we now appoint Minister Wei as the agent, a total of two hundred and two thousand Guan Ping silver, which will be redeemed by Minister Wei at any time.

Six, this case is a knot, the court regretted the case of Yunnan, and I was sent to England by Qin. All titles of Minister Qin and his entourage should be known to Minister Zhao Wei first, so that he can consult his country. The draft credentials should also be sent by the Prime Minister's yamen to Minister Wei for a look.

The second end is to give preferential treatment to the exchanges between various sectors. This refers to the exchange of gifts between ambassadors and other consular officials in Beijing and China officials, as well as the negotiation between officials of the two countries in handling cases.

The first is to file an investigation. On September 11th, the first year of Guangxu, the Prime Minister's yamen wanted to reserve talents who were familiar with Westernization. Originally, it was not only to deal with Chinese and foreign negotiation affairs, but also to contact various subjects. At present, there are still some incongruities outside Beijing due to various situations of meeting exchanges and document handover between officials of the two countries. It is advisable to stipulate the articles of association to avoid disputes. It is suggested that the Prime Minister's yamen send a note to the ministers in Beijing, asking them to discuss the etiquette terms. Generally speaking, China officials treat foreign officials living in China and other places as they communicate with other countries in Taixi, and treat China officials outside the country as well. Because China has sent personnel to send envoys, this constitution should be clearly stipulated so that Zhao Fang can compromise.

2. Article 16 of the British Treaty made by Wei Feng in eight years stipulates: "Any British citizen who commits a crime shall be punished by Britain. China people bullied and hurt British people, and they were all punished by local officials in China. Negotiations between the two countries must show their actions by mutual fair judgment. The English version of the original contract contains the words "British citizens should be punished by British consular officials or other agents for committing crimes", while the Chinese version contains the words "Britain". Detailed articles of association were discussed in Britain before. In order to abide by the terms of the peace treaty, judges and other members were sent to set up a trial court in Shanghai. At present, Britain should appropriately revise its previous articles of association to make it perfect. China also set up a joint hearing office in Shanghai to handle Chinese-foreign negotiation cases. However, due to different powers or fear of causing dissatisfaction, members assigned to adjudicate cases often fail to deal with these cases seriously. It is suggested that the Prime Minister's yamen should inform the ministers in Beijing that how the trading ports should negotiate with the Audit Office should be handled properly to show fairness.

3. Whenever there is a theft case involving the lives of British people in mainland provinces or trading ports, it is suggested that British ministers send personnel there to observe the trial. This matter should be clarified first, so as to avoid disagreement with each other in the future. Minister Wei will soon prepare a briefing and ask the Prime Minister's yamen to reply, so as to announce the reasons for doing so in the future. When trying and judging negotiation cases in China, the laws of the two countries are different. We can only look at the nationality of the defendant, that is, where the officials go to prosecute; Where the plaintiff comes from, its own officials can only go to the judge to observe the trial. If the judge thinks that it has not been handled properly, he can argue one by one, and each judge will make a judgment according to his own law. This is the original intention of the word "will" contained in Article 16 of the Treaty, and officials of both countries should abide by it.

Third-party trade affairs

A, according to the previous treaties, there is a limit to whether all trading ports accept foreign goods. Therefore, it is proposed by Minister Wei that the state take all concessions as places to avoid foreign goods, so as to avoid unlimited; With the approval of China, commercial ports have been opened in Yichang, North Korea, Wuhu, Anhui, Wenzhou, Zhejiang and Beihai, Guangdong, as the residences of consular officials. In addition, the Chongqing government in Sichuan can be stationed by the British to inspect the British business affairs in Sichuan Province. Before the ship arrives in Chongqing, British businessmen are not allowed to live and set up warehouses there. Once the ship is on board, we will discuss it again. Datong and Anqing in Anhui, Hukou in Jiangxi, Wuxue in Huguang, Luxikou and Shashi along the Yangtze River are all mainland places, not trading ports. According to the articles of association of Yangtze River communist party, foreign businessmen are not allowed to load or unload goods without permission. Now an accommodation method is proposed to allow ships to stop berthing, and all merchants' goods are loaded and unloaded by civilian ships, still in accordance with mainland regulations. Except for foreign semi-tax forms, which are exempted from inspection according to regulations, local declared goods are only allowed to board the ship and are not allowed to be unloaded for sale, and the rest are subject to tax, which is properly handled by local officials themselves. Foreign businessmen are not allowed to live and open warehouses there.

Second, the old and new ports should be non-negotiable except for concessions from various countries. If the concession is undecided, British consular officials should negotiate with consular officials of various countries and local officials to draw a demarcation address for foreigners' houses.

Three, a box of foreign medicine, minister wei please go home, must find another way, different from other foreign goods. Let British businessmen send people to inspect the imported foreign medicines, seal the barns or barges, and pay taxes according to the photos of foreign businessmen when selling them; And let the seller pay taxes at the new customs to avoid tax evasion. It should collect a certain tax, which should be determined by the provinces.

Four, foreign freight into the mainland to apply for a semi-tax single photo, which has been stipulated in the treaties of various countries and should be followed. After that, each customs office issued a single photo, and the pattern was drawn with the approval of the Prime Minister's yamen. Both Chinese and foreign businessmen can obtain it, and there is no difference. It is also stipulated in the treaty that foreign businessmen transport domestic goods from the mainland to the port for boarding. After paying half the tax, British businessmen can take a photo and transport it to Haikou. If British businessmen don't buy their own domestic goods, they won't be shipped to the customs for export. Minister Wei is willing to try to do business with the Prime Minister's yamen for all the articles of association that should be formulated to avoid breeding disadvantages. The provisions of Article 7 of the Articles of Association on dealing with the aftermath of trade show that foreign goods enter the mainland and the mainland buys local goods. This means that the non-trading ports along the coast, along the river, along the river and on land belong to the mainland, and China should try its best to prevent abuses.

5. Article 45 of the treaty concluded by Xianfeng in the eighth year stipulates that British businessmen who transport foreign goods that have already paid taxes out of the country shall report to the customs for supervision and issue a bill of lading as proof of paying taxes on other days. The original contract had no fixed term, but now it is stipulated to be three years. At the end of the period, this deposit slip shall not be used as a tax payment certificate.

Six, Hong Kong Ocean Shipping, Guangdong Customs set up patrol boats to check tax collection matters. Hong Kong officials have repeatedly claimed that such patrol boats have disturbed China merchant ships. It has been agreed that Britain will appoint a consular officer, China an equality officer and Hong Kong a British official, and they will work together to find out the rules and regulations to abide by. It is advantageous to pay rates in China, but not in Hong Kong.

Seven, the above discussion allows to increase the opening of trading ports and six places along the Yangtze River to allow loading and unloading of goods, which should be carried out by Li within six months, while the concession will exempt foreign goods and foreign medicines from customs duties and taxes at the new customs. Once Britain negotiates with other countries, it will be opened regularly.

Discuss another article

At present, due to the discretion of the British side, we will send personnel from the capital of China to Gansu and Qinghai next year, or from mainland Sichuan and other places to Tibet to reach India. For the purpose of distant visits, all passports should be issued and the official documents of local officials and ministers stationed in Tibet should be notified. At that time, the Prime Minister's yamen will review the situation and handle it properly. If the dispatched personnel do not take this road, they will be dispatched from the border areas of India and Tibet. As soon as China received the notice from the British envoy, he would write to the envoy in Tibet to understand the situation, send personnel to keep it properly, and the Prime Minister's yamen would issue a passport to avoid obstruction.

Guangxu was born on July 26th, Guangxu two years ago. 1September, 876 13 in Yantai, Shandong province, written in Chinese and English in four copies, and sealed.

Li Ya, an imperial envoy of the Qing Dynasty who acted in a cheap way.

Wei Ya, the British imperial envoy to China, is cheap.

annotations

For this treaty and special treaties, see Guangxu Treaty, volume 1, page 12- 17. For the English text, see Customs Foreign Treaty, vol. 1, p. 49 1-499.

According to Guangxu Treaty, the original name of this treaty was Yunnan Case Treaty, also known as Sino-British Conference Clause. The English version is called the Plenipotentiary Agreement between the Chinese and British Governments, which is usually referred to as the Yantai Treaty for short.

The treaty was ratified in London on May 6, 1986.