民初国会与“中俄协约”

Parliament and Sino-Russian Treaty in 1913

民初国会对中俄协约的审议,是中国人运用议会民主制度决定重大外交问题的初次尝试。研究这段历史,对于加深议会民主制的理解很有帮助。以往外交史著作大都误以为中国参议院否决协约是在俄国废弃协约之前,而实际上参议院是在得知俄国单方面毁约的情况下才事后否决的,或者说是俄方而非中方导致谈判破裂。

The year of 1913 witnesses a serious debate about Sino-Russian Treaty on Outer Mongolia, which is a rare experience for China to decide diplomatic problems by a parliament and therefore deserves to be deeply studied. Some scholars believe that it is the Chinese Senate that vetoes the treaty, but the fact is that it is the Russia that quits first. The mistake must be corrected.