Sino-British Treaty for the Relinquishment of Extra-Territorial Rights in China | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Traditional Chinese | 中英關於取消英國在華治外法權及處理有關特權條約 | ||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 中英关于取消英国在华治外法权及处理有关特权条约 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Sino-British New Equal Treaty | |||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 中英平等新約 | ||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 中英平等新约 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Treaty Between His Majesty in Respect of the United Kingdom and India and His Excellency the President of the National Government of the Republic of China for the Relinquishment of Extra-Territorial Rights in China and the Regulation of Related Matters | |||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 聯合王國及印度國王陛下和中華民國國民政府主席閣下關於放棄在中國治外法權有關事項的規定的條約 | ||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 联合王国及印度国王陛下和中华民国国民政府主席阁下关于放弃在中国治外法权有关事项的规定的条约 | ||||||||
|
The Sino-British Treaty for the Relinquishment of Extra-Territorial Rights in China, [1] or the Sino-British New Equal Treaty,was a bilateral treaty concluded between the British and the Chinese government in Chongqing on 11 January 1943. The formal name of the treaty was Treaty Between His Majesty in Respect of the United Kingdom and India and His Excellency the President of the National Government of the Republic of China for the Relinquishment of Extra-Territorial Rights in China and the Regulation of Related Matters. [2]
Under that treaty,the British government relinquished any special rights it had in China. This was done as a conciliatory step towards the Chinese government in order to boost up its cooperation with the Allied Powers in the Second World War. The United States and China concluded a similar treaty on the same day.
Ratifications were exchanged in Chongqing on 20 May 1943,and the treaty became effective on the same day. It was registered in the League of Nations Treaty Series on 30 September 1944. [3]
Since the Treaty of Nanjing, concluded in 1842, the British government enjoyed extra-territorial rights in China, which included mainly commercial rights for British companies and extra-territorial rights for British nationals in China. [4] British subjects could only be prosecuted for crimes or have civil cases brought against them before British Consular courts or the British Supreme Court for China and Japan.
The need to modify the conditions of extra-territorial rights in China arose from the dire situation of Chinese-British-U.S. military cooperation following the Japanese invasion of China in 1937 and later during the Second World War. On 18 July 1940, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill declared in Parliament his government's intention of relinquishing extra-territorial rights in China once peace was concluded. [5] The issue was raised again following the outbreak of war in the Pacific in December 1941, and at this point the British position was greatly influenced by the U.S. position. Already in March 1942, agreement was reached among State Department officials regarding the need to modify existing agreements with the Chinese government in the latter's favour in order to improve relations. [6] On 25 April 1942, the British government sounded its positions on the matter in a memorandum to the U.S. government, in which it agreed to abolish extra-territorial jurisdiction in principle, but suggested to postpone negotiations to that effect until the end of the war. [7] On 6 May 1942, the U.S. government responded to the British memorandum that it was not desirable to abrogate extra-territoriality in China at the moment, but that it would consider doing so in case approached about it by the Chinese government. [8] On 27 August 1942, U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull suggested that in case negotiations for relinquishing extra-territoriality commence, the following provisions should be included in the treaty:
The British government was not receptive at first to Hull's proposals, but the U.S. government began pressing London to start negotiations with Chongqing right away, fearing lest waiting until the war's end will strengthen Chinese public pressures to adopt stiffer positions vis-a-vis the U.S. and British governments. On 3 October 1942, the U.S. government submitted to the British government a draft U.S.-Chinese treaty based on Hull's proposal of 27 August.
First indication for Chinese aspirations to abolish extra-territoriality came around August 1942, in a conversation between Wang Beng-shen, advisor to Chiang Kai-shek on Japanese affairs, and member of the British embassy in Chongqing. The Chinese adviser stated that the Chinese government desired to abolish extra-territorial rights in Shanghai, and was willing to grant some special status to British companies in that city. [9]
As a result of U.S. pressure, the British government agreed in early October 1942 to enter into negotiations with the Chinese government regarding the abrogation of extra-territoriality, and on 9 October the U.S. and British governments officially notified the Chinese government of their initiative to that effect.
Negotiations eventually led to the conclusion of two similar treaties in January 1943 between China and the U.K. and U.S. respectively for the relinquishment of extra-territorial rights in China.
The wording of the treaty was similar to the proposal made by Hull on 27 August 1942, as it remained brief in order to allow for more detailed agreement once the war was over.
Chiang Kai-shek attempted to put the Hong Kong Question onto the two parties' agenda, suggesting that the Kowloon concession should be returned to the Republic of China along with the other foreign concessions. This was fiercely rejected by the United Kingdom's prime minister at the time, Winston Churchill. The United Kingdom also demanded that the Republic of China give their written consent that the Kowloon concession was not included within the unequal treaties, or else they would refuse to sign, so the Republic of China was forced to drop the concession of Kowloon from the agenda. The two sides signed the treaty, with the Republic of China writing a formal letter to the United Kingdom and securing the right to raise the issue of Hong Kong on a later occasion. [10]
The Treaty of Nanking was the peace treaty which ended the First Opium War (1839–1842) between Great Britain and the Qing dynasty of China on 29 August 1842. It was the first of what the Chinese later termed the Unequal Treaties.
Treaty ports were the port cities in China and Japan that were opened to foreign trade mainly by the unequal treaties forced upon them by Western powers, as well as cities in Korea opened up similarly by the Qing dynasty of China and the Empire of Japan.
In international law, extraterritoriality is the state of being exempted from the jurisdiction of local law, usually as the result of diplomatic negotiations.
The Sino-Japanese Peace Treaty, formally the Treaty of Peace between the Republic of China and Japan and commonly known as the Treaty of Taipei, was a peace treaty between Japan and the Republic of China (ROC) signed in Taipei, Taiwan on 28 April 1952, and took effect on August 5 the same year, marking the formal end of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945).
The handover of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China was at midnight on 1 July 1997. This event ended 156 years of British rule in the former colony. Hong Kong was established as a special administrative region of China (SAR) for 50 years, maintaining its own economic and governing systems from those of mainland China during this time, although influence from the central government in Beijing increased after the passing of the Hong Kong national security law in 2020.
The Shanghai International Settlement originated from the merger in the year 1863 of the British and American enclaves in Shanghai, in which British and American citizens would enjoy extraterritoriality and consular jurisdiction under the terms of treaties agreed by both parties. These treaties were abrogated in 1943.
In international relations, a concession is a "synallagmatic act by which a State transfers the exercise of rights or functions proper to itself to a foreign private test which, in turn, participates in the performance of public functions and thus gains a privileged position vis-a-vis other private law subjects within the jurisdiction of the State concerned." International concessions are not defined in international law and do not generally fall under it. Rather, they are governed by the municipal law of the conceding state. There may, however, be a law of succession for such concessions, whereby the concession is continued even when the conceding state ceases to exist.
The Convention between the United Kingdom and China, Respecting an Extension of Hong Kong Territory, commonly known as the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory or the Second Convention of Peking, was a lease signed between Qing China and the United Kingdom in Peking on 9 June 1898, leasing to the United Kingdom for 99 years, at no charge, the New Territories and northern Kowloon, including 235 islands.
The National Resources Commission was a powerful organ of the Executive Yuan of the Republic of China that existed from 1932 to 1952 and was responsible for industrial development and the management of public enterprises. It was staffed entirely by technocrats who reported directly to the Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek. The significance of the National Resources Commission stemmed from the leading role it played in industrial development during the two decades of Kuomintang "tutelage" over China.
Chinese nationality law details the conditions by which a person holds nationality of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The primary law governing these requirements is the Nationality Law of the People's Republic of China, which came into force on September 10, 1980.
The Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF) was an organisation that focused on the issues of Hong Kong politics and livelihood, affiliated with almost all pan-democratic camps in Hong Kong. It was founded on 13 September 2002 and disbanded on 15 August 2021.
The Red Cross Society of the Republic of China (Taiwan) (Chinese: 中華民國紅十字會), also known as Taiwanese Red Cross is the Red Cross Society of the Republic of China (Taiwan). The society is not recognized by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) because it does not meet all the conditions set out in the Statues of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, and it is not a member of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. From its founding in 1904, to 1949, when the Kuomintang retreated to Taiwan, the society shared its history with the Red Cross Society of China. Both societies associate their origins with the founder, Shen Dunhe, a tea merchant.
Sir Donald Collin Cumyn Luddington, was a British colonial government official and civil servant who served firstly in the Hong Kong Government and became District Commissioner, New Territories and the Secretary for Home Affairs successively, during which he had also served as an official member of the Legislative Council. He was later promoted to Oceania and was High Commissioner for the Western Pacific and Governor of the Solomon Islands during the period from 1973 to 1976. He returned to Hong Kong in 1977 to replace Sir Ronald Holmes as chairman of the Public Service Commission. He was the second person, after Sir Jack Cater, to hold the post of Commissioner of ICAC from 1978 until his retirement in 1980.
'Yin Tong was a politician and military personnel in the Republic of China. He was an important person during the Provisional Government of the Republic of China and Wang Jingwei regime. His courtesy name was Tongsheng (桐聲). He was born in Jiangyin, Jiangsu.
Wang Yitang was a politician and military leader in the Qing Dynasty and Republic of China. He belonged to the Anhui clique and formed the Anfu Club (安福俱樂部). Later he became an important politician in the Provisional Government of the Republic of China and the Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China. His former name was Zhiyang (志洋) and his courtesy names were Shenwu (慎吾) and Shengong (什公). Later, his name was changed to Geng (賡) while his courtesy name was changed to Yitang (一堂). He was also known by his art name Yitang (揖唐). He was born in Hefei, Anhui.
The 1912 Chinese provisional presidential election were the elections held on 15 February and 20 February 1912 in Nanjing for the second provisional President and Vice President of China.
The Sino-American Treaty for the Relinquishment of Extraterritorial Rights in China or Sino-American New Equal Treaty was a bilateral treaty signed by the United States and the Republic of China on January 11, 1943. The formal name of the treaty was Treaty Between the United States of America and the Republic of China for the Relinquishment of Extraterritorial Rights in China and the Regulation of Related Matters. It became effective on May 20, 1943, following the mutual exchange of ratifications pursuant to Article VIII.
Relations between the government of Hong Kong and the Republic of China (Taiwan) encompass both when the Republic of China controlled mainland China, and afterwards, when the Republic of China fled to Taiwan.
Hong Kong–mainland China relations refer to the relationship between Mainland China and Hong Kong. According to the 1997 Sino-British Joint Declaration, the United Kingdom handed control of Hong Kong over to the People's Republic of China, making it a special administrative region. In principle, Hong Kong became an autonomous administrative division based on the Hong Kong Basic Law.
The National Human Rights Commission of Taiwan was founded on August 1, 2020 as Taiwan’s national human rights institution. The commission is designed to promote and protect human rights in Taiwan and fulfill the government's commitment to meet the Paris Principles. The first chair of the commission is Chen Chu. The functions and powers of the National Human Rights Commission are as follows: