“巨文岛事件”与英国东北亚政策

The British Occupation of Port Hamilton and the British Foreign Policy in Northeast Asia

"甲申政变"之后,辅佐谁来保护朝鲜,是英国制定东北亚外交政策的焦点。朝鲜"背清亲俄"、日本不断挑战中朝宗藩关系、《天津条约》的撤兵造成朝鲜半岛即将出现政权、军事真空局面,导致中国在政治、军事两方面掌控朝鲜的力度空前薄弱,加剧了域内域外国家对朝鲜主导权的争夺。为了防止朝鲜半岛的动荡局势向着于己国不利的方向演变,维护在远东地区的战略格局,1885年3月,英国精心策划了一个"由中国保护朝鲜"和"有一打算"的外交计策,并于1885年4月在防御"英俄战争"的大义名分下,占领了巨文岛。由此,开始了近两年的辅佐"中国保护朝鲜"的外交活动,最后如愿获得了一个在中国宗主权掌控下的相对稳固的东北亚局势。可以说,巨文岛事件是在英国军事力量支持下,中英联手巩固东亚宗藩体制的外交事件,英国是这一事件的最大赢家,中国是最大的受益者。而英国高调渲染占领巨文岛的大义名分和辅佐"中国保护朝鲜"的真实用意,如同一枚硬币的两面,反映了巨文岛事件的复杂性、多面性。1885年以后,在强化宗藩体制的过程中,以遏制日本和朝鲜进一步破坏中国宗主权为目的的英国外交活动发挥了关键作用,巨文岛事件是其中的重要历史拐点。

After ＂The Gapsin Coup＂, British Northeast Asia foreign policy revolved around the issue of which country to help for holding the Suzerainty over Korea. Faced with the Korea＇s regime and military vacuum situation after Tianfin Treaty, the British government planned and implemented a strategy of helping consolidating ＂the Chinese Suzerainty over Korea＂ in or- der to respond and cope with the worsening regional situation and prevent further unrest on Korea Peninsula,which was particu- larly unfavorable to British interests. In April 1885, the British occupied Port Hamilton under the pretense of containing the possibility of a new Anglo - Russian War. The British occupation of Port Hamihon was a start of two - year British diplomatic activity aiming to help reinforcing ＂the Chinese Suzerainty over Korea＂, which eventually rendered a comparatively stabilized regional situation in Northeast Asia under Chinese Suzerainty. To conclude, the British occupation of Port Hamilton was a diplo- matic event of China and Britain jointly consolidating East Asia Suzerain - vassal System supported by British military force. Britain got the lion＇ s share in the process while China also benefited much. The real intentions behind British highly playing up the pretense of ＂consolidating Chinese Suzerainty over Korea＂ were just like two sides of one coin, reflecting the complexity and the fact that various powers played in the event. From 1885 ,the British diplomatic activity led a key role in containing both Japanese and Korean forces to undermine the Chinese Suzerainty and obviously the British occupation of Port Hamilton was theturning point in history.