对19世纪末中英铜货索赔案的再研究——法国史料"两广总督称西沙既不属于中国也不属于安南"的来龙去脉  

A New Investigation into Bellona Copper Case at the End of the 19th Century——Tracing the Origins of a French Claim That the Governor General of the Liang Kuang Provinces Asserted That the Paracels Belonged No More to China Than They Did to Annam

作　　者：顾跃挺 曹树基 许盘清[1] Gu Yueting;Cao Shuji;Xu Panqing

机构地区：[1]三江学院中外南海历史舆图研究基地,南京210012

出　　处：《清华大学学报（哲学社会科学版）》2023年第4期117-133,223,共18页Journal of Tsinghua University(Philosophy and Social Sciences)

基　　金：国家社会科学基金重大项目"南海疆文献资料整理中的知识发现与维权证据链建构研究"(19ZDA347)、国家社会科学基金一般项目"越南与中国南海地名考证及历史地理信息平台建设研究"(18BTQ048)。

摘　　要：19世纪末中英铜货索赔案指的是中国和英国政府就两艘外国商船——德国边楼拏号(Bellona)和日本姬路丸(Himegi Maru)——在西沙海域失事、部分铜货被中国渔民打捞事件的外交交涉。20世纪30年代法国文献中出现了"清朝两广总督称西沙既不属于中国也不属于安南"一说。2021年英国学者比尔·海顿(Bill Hayton)根据一份中文照会的英文译文所称沉船地点发生于high seas,以及清廷文件中的"大海茫茫从何保护",便断定清政府官员以沉船之地为公海而推卸责任。于是,外媒大肆渲染,认为这是中国不拥有西沙群岛的"铁证"。然而,依据我们最近从英国国家档案馆新发现的中文照会原件,high seas只是对中文"大洋"一词的翻译,根本没有公海之意。中英双方根据《中英天津条约》第十九款处理该案,充分说明英国当时把西沙群岛及其海域当成中国的管辖范围。从地方到中央,清政府从没有对中国拥有西沙海域的管辖权提出异议。"清朝两广总督称西沙既不属于中国也不属于安南",只是法国人对中英文史料的曲解和臆想。By Bellona Copper Case it means the negotiations in which the Chinese government refused the British Embassy that demanded for compensation for the two ships lost around the Paracels Islands and some of the copper ingots salvaged by Chinese fishermen.30 years after the negotiation,this case led to the creation of a French claim that the Governor General of the Liang Kuang Provinces asserted that the Paracels belonged no more to China than they did to Annam.In 2021,Bill Hayton,a British journalist and scholar,revealed to the public that the high-ranking Qing officials asserted that the shipwreck took place in the high seas so China had no responsibility for compensation.His conclusion was based upon an English passage containing"high seas"translated from a Qing official dispatch and also upon an original Chinese expression"how to protect in the wide expanse of great seas".He found these archives in the TNA(The National Archives),and then followed a sensational media hype about this"irrefutable evidence"that the Chinese did not own the Paracels Islands from ancient times.However,we made a search and found the original documents about the copper case in TNA which indicated that high seas here only corresponds to the Chinese phrase大洋(great ocean),not in its legal meaning.The Chinese and British governments dealt with this case according to the 19th article of Tientsin Treaty between the two countries,which clearly signified the British regarded the Paracels Islands as within the Chinese jurisdiction while the Qing officials from the local to the central governments never posed questions about the Chinese jurisdiction over this area.The claim that the Governor General of the Liang Kuang Provinces asserted that the Paracels belonged no more to China than they did to Annam was proved to be a product of imagination and distort especially by the French colonist officials.

关 键 词：铜货索赔案 西沙群岛 大清总理衙门 英国驻华公使 

分 类 号：D829[政治法律—政治学] K25[政治法律—外交学] K561.4[历史地理—历史学]