美国政府与中日甲午战争

The United States Administration and the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895

在1894—1895年的中日甲午战争中,美国表面声称中立,实际却偏袒日本。战前一再拒绝中、朝两国的调停请求和英国的联合调停建议,默认或怂恿日本发动战争。战争期间,美国外交官作为中日两国侨民的战时保护人,一再逸出国际法合理范围,曲意保护在华日本间谍。作为中日两国的唯一调停者,美国一方面拒绝与欧洲国家联合调停,为日本继续发动战争减轻国际压力,另一方面又单方面劝说清朝政府接受日本的各项侵略要求,帮助日本实现发动战争的目的。美国偏袒日本的原因,主要是希望借日本之手废除中朝宗藩关系,进一步打开中国大门,同时利用日本削弱英国、俄国等在东亚的影响力。

In the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895,the United States claimed to be remaining neutral,but in fact it was biased toward Japan.Before the war it repeatedly refused mediation requests by China and Korea and Britain's joint mediation proposal while tacitly acknowledging or inciting Japan to start a war.During the war,American diplomats,as wartime protectors of both Japanese and Chinese nationals,frequently went beyond the limits of international law to protect Japanese spies in China.As the only mediator between China and Japan,the United States rejected the joint mediation efforts of the European countries and continued to help reduce international pressure on Japan.At the same time,it unilaterally persuaded the Qing government to accept Japan's aggressive demands so as to help Japan achieve its war aims.The main reason for the United States' leaning towards Japan was that it hoped to use Japan to end the suzerain-vassal relationship between China and Korea in order to further open the door to China and at the same time weaken the influence of Britain and Russia in East Asia.