英国干涉左宗棠西征考论

A Study of British Intervention to China's Recovery of Xinjiang in 1870s

左宗棠收复新疆前后,以威妥玛和福赛斯为代表的英国外务部和印度事务部官员采取情报搜集、战略评估、舆论影响、外交施压、财政钳制和诱导缔约等多种干涉手段,试图以居间调停为名阻止清军西征、迫使清政府承认阿古柏政权以保护印度。左宗棠则相应采取了坚决而有效的应对措施。中英之间就西征问题进行的博弈不仅揭示了霸权主义为维护其全球利益而综合利用多种资源干预他国内政的理念和实践,更凸显了以下史实,即晚清对外交涉主导者若能准确把握国际关系态势和战略契机,亦可制衡强权并实现对国家利益的有效保护。

This paper is going to probe British diplomacy during China＇s re-conquest of Xinjiang in 1870s. The Forsyth expeditions to southern Xinjiang and the Treaty between England and Kashgar significantly influenced British diplomacy towards China. In order to preserve Yaqub Beg＇s regime to check the Russian expansion in Central Asia, Thomas Wade and other British diplomats started a series of propaganda and diplomatic campaigns against Zuo Zongtang＇s Xinjiang enterprise. Zuo pushed his re- conquest plan firmly despite the pressure exerted by the British. The paper will study the Sino-British negotiations on Xinjiang in detail by referring to the Foreign Office Records, the British Parliamentary Papers, Chinese archives, newspapers and other historical documents. It should bring some insights for academia to reconsider the role of China in the Great Game, and Xinjiang＇s strategic significance to China and India in the late 19th Century.