19世纪英国在南太平洋领事裁判权的生成、论争与困境——以斐济为中心(1859-1871)

Derivation,Debate and Dilemma:British Consular Jurisdiction in 19th Century South Pacific—A Case Study of Fiji(1859-1871)

19世纪中期以来,英国开始向南太平洋地区派遣驻扎官、领事等外交人员,作为它在当地政策的推行者。从身份上看,英国领事多具有传教士背景。受人道主义的影响,他们对南太平洋的海陆秩序较为关注,对猖獗一时的劳工贸易表现出了强烈谴责和抵制的态度,也由此要求自身权限的扩大。自1857年威廉·普理查德担任驻斐济领事开始,英国政界关于领事裁判权的讨论开始深化。一方面,尽管英政府也决意对非法人口贸易进行打击,但一些既有法律已经对领事的职能与权力做出了界定,这当中的法理困境并不是容易克服的;另一方面,由于英国在南太平洋的总体策略还是以保守为主,加之斐济政府于1871年成立,领事裁判权由此丧失了进一步延伸的政治环境,还有可能引发与他国之间的争端。最终,英国在斐济的领事裁判权只经历了“昙花一现”般的存在与实践,虽然其中的一些人道主义因素产生了客观上的积极作用,但它本质上还是英国海外政策的一部分,是近代帝国主义、殖民主义侵犯他国主权的工具与凭借。

In early 19th century,shortly after the establishment of the British colony of New South Wales,Britain focused on internal affairs of the colony,paying little attention to the surrounding conditions.Consequently,many“beachcombers”became rampant instead,endangering the order between the land and sea in the South Pacific.Since the mid-19th century,due to the expansion of its own power and the influence of the international situation,Britain began to send resident,consuls and other diplomatic personnel to the South Pacific region as local agents and policy promoters.In terms of identity,many British diplomats had missionary background.Under the influence of humanism,they paid more attention to the land-and-sea order in the South Pacific,and strongly condemned and resisted the soaring labor trade,thus demanding the expansion of their own authority.From the appointment of William Pritchard as Consul to Fiji in 1857,the British political debate on consular jurisdiction began to deepen.Pritchard himself wanted to extend consular powers by contracting with local chiefs,and thus continue to play a role in restricting the human trade,but this was not approved by the British government.On the one hand,although the British government was determined to crack down on the illegal human trade,some existing laws had defined the functions and powers of consuls,which was not an easy legal dilemma to overcome.On the other hand,Britain did not want to expand the empire too much and take on additional political and economic responsibilities,so its overall strategy in the South Pacific was mainly conservative.The establishment of an indigenous Fijian government in 1871 caused the loss of the political environment for further extension of consular jurisdiction,which could have led to disputes with other countries.In the end,Britain s consular jurisdiction in Fiji only experienced a short-time existence and practice.Although some humanitarian factors had positive effects,it was still a part of Britain s overseas policy in essence,and a tool for modern imperialism and colonialism to violate the sovereignty of other countries.