晚清政府的非洲华侨政策：评价与反思

Policy towards Overseas Chinese of Africa in Late Qing:Appraisal and Reflection

针对晚清非洲华侨政策的研究中几个争议较大或有所不足的问题,提炼出三个总体观点:客观成效不能完全否定主观努力;个体不能代替整体;招工费的具体分析。认为在对非洲华侨政策上,晚清政府已经表现出了一定的主动性和进步性,如对主权的意识,对国际法的重视,对华民称呼的改变,部分出于对民生的关注而主动输出劳务,在外交上的主动争取等等。但限于国力和关注重点以及外交技巧上的多重束缚,晚清政府的非洲华侨政策其客观效果并不能令人满意。

Debates and flaws exist in current studies on government policy towards overseas Chinese of Africa in late Qing. Three key arguments could be summarised, i. e. subjective efforts should not be overshadowed by negative outcomes, individual consul＇s behaviour could not represent the overall government policy, and the labour recruitment fee needs to be analyzed carefully. This article argues that to some extent initiatives and progress could be observed in the government policy towards overseas Chinese of Africa in late Qing, such as the consciousness of sovereignty, emphasis on the International Law, the changes in addressing overseas Chinese, promoting labour export which was partly caused by the concerns to people＇s livelihood, as well as active efforts of Qing government in diplomatic affairs. Nevertheless, due to the limited resources, distraction caused by the internal affairs and hindrances incurred by unskilled diplomacy, the actual outcome of this government policy was disappointing.