清政府在中比卢汉铁路借款谈判中的内部分歧(1896-1898年)

Divergence between China and Belgium in the Negotiation on the Loan for Building the Lugouqiao-Hankou Railway(1896-1898)

清政府为了筹建卢汉铁路,举借外债。在选择来源问题上,张之洞极其主观地认为比利时借款无风险,坚决主张向比利时借款,盛宣怀以迁就的态度放弃自己的主张。中比签署借款合同后,比利时在俄、法两国的支持下,不断提出修改合同的要求。在艰难的交涉中,盛宣怀和李鸿章都有明显的分歧,最终无法形成有效的应对方案,被迫使接受比利时的苛刻条件。

To build the Lugouqiao-Hankou Railway,the Qing Government decided to borrow money from foreign countries.On the problem of which country was the best lender,Zhang Zhidong thought there would be little danger in borrowing money from Belgium and insisted on choosing Belgium.Sheng Xuanhuai gave up his own view.Soon after the contract was signed by China and Belgium,Belgium asked for modification to the contract.In the following negotiation,there was evident divergence between Sheng Xuanhuai and Li Hongzhang.The Qing Government had no effective countermeasures and was forced to accept the harsh terms of Belgium in the end.