高升号事件爆发后两位英国国际法学者的舆论宣传

Propaganda of two British scholars of international law after the outbreak of the Kowshing Incident

高升号事件爆发后,英国国际法学者韦斯特莱克和胡兰德先后在《泰晤士报》发文,为肇事者日本浪速舰行为辩护。长期以来,学界认为这是日本在应对高升号事件中利用国际法维护自身利益的成功典范。两位学者的发文是日本舆论宣传的一个组成部分,已不是真正意义上严肃的国际法讨论。英国皇家法官同一时期基于完整的事件事实的论证,所获结论更符合实际。两位学者的发文对当时的英国主流舆论未产生预期影响,与英国政府的索赔政策考量更无关联。两位学者后来提携扶持日本海军教授、高升号事件研究的官方代表高桥作卫,他们的论说也由高桥进一步发扬光大。作为回报,高桥还在事件了结之际,积极推动日本政府为两位授勋,并有心树立起两位学者在高升号事件中的特殊地位,影响至今,值得重视。

After the outbreak of the Kowshing Incident,two British scholars of international law,J.Westlake and T.Holland,wrote to the Times to defend the action of the troublemaker,Japan's warship Naniwa.For a long time,this has been regarded as a successful case for Japan to resort to international law to safeguard its own interest in dealing with the Kowshing Incident.The contributions of the two scholars are an integral part of Japanese propaganda,and are not really serious discussions of international law.At the same time,based on the complete facts of the incident,the conclusions reached by the law officers of the crown are more realistic.The contributions of the two scholars had no impact on the mainstream public opinion in the UK at that time,not to mention the claim policy of the British government.The two scholars later supported the Japanese Navy professor and the official representative of the research on the Kowshing Incident,S.Takahashi,who further developed their theory.In return,Takahashi actively promoted the Japanese government to grant honor to the two scholars and deliberately set a special status for the two scholars in the incident so that the influence has lasted until now,which is worthy of attention.