随其政体,护己侨民:辛亥革命期间美英的护侨决策

“All Their Polity is Possible,Protecting Our Expatriates is Significant”:A Study of the British and American Decision to Protect Their Expatriates in China during the Revolution of 1911

辛亥年间,中国民变不断,清廷统治日暮西山,动荡的时局使旅居中国的英美侨民倍感不安。武昌起义爆发后,美国政府准备组织列强“联合护侨”,但该建议遭到英国等传统列强的反对,传统列强担心他国借“护侨”之机侵犯其势力范围。随着革命形势的发展,英美等国纷纷以“护侨”为名向中国增兵,形成心照不宣的在华“军备竞赛”。同时,在护侨问题上各行其是的列强,却在保卫外资铁路问题上实现通力合作。清廷与革命党均提出过保护外国侨民的口号,但因战局激烈而未能实现。英美政府希望中国能有稳定的政府来处理外侨赔偿事宜,这也促使英美支持袁世凯等旧朝实力派官员。

During the year of 1911,China was in a state of civil unrest,the Qing govern-ment was in its waning days.The turbulent situation made British and the American expatriates in China feel uneasy.After the outbreak of the Wuchang Uprising,the United States prepared to or-ganize a“joint protection of the expatriates”by the Western powers,which was opposed by the British and other traditional powers who feared that other countries would take advantage of the“protection”to encroach on their spheres of influence.As the revolutionary situation developed,Britain and the US increased their troops to China in the name of“protecting their expatriates”,creating an unspoken“armament race”in China.At the same time,the British and American,who had their own way of protection their expatriates in China,cooperated in the defence of for-eign-owned railways.Both Qing government and the revolutionary political party raised the slo-gan of protecting foreign expatriates,but this was not fully achieved due to the intensity of the war.The British and American governments wanted a stable government in China to handle compensation for expatriates,which prompted them to eventually support Yuan Shikai and other powerful officials of the old dynasty.