论清代近海管理制度的变迁及其法律意义

Legal Significance on Transition of the Managing Regime on Littoral Waters of Qing Dynasty

现代海洋法领水制度的正式定义和关键要件确立于20世纪50—80年代。在此之前,各国对于领水的法律性质和领水的空间范围等长期未有共识。在历史中,中国对于近岸水域存在管理意识与管辖实践。在近代西方国际法传入之前,清代中国实施了近岸水域的“内外洋”管理制度,将海洋划分为“内洋”“外洋”等不同形态,展开了复杂的制度性管理。虽然该制度在法律上与现代国际海洋法领水制度的要件不尽相同,但历史学者基于对“内外洋”制度的丰富研究,已就其实施形态与制度内涵达成了有共识的学术意见。考虑到与“内外洋”制度同一时期,西方各国亦未就近岸水域管理制度达成一致,其国家实践亦仅体现出领水制度的初期实践特征。因此,“内外洋”制度作为中国对周边水域实施的历史性管辖实践,应与同时期各国实践具有相同的法律意义。19世纪中后期,因历史背景的变化,清政府尝试基于当时的西方国际法规则与各国开展外交,并尝试以西方国际法概念来描述中国的近岸水域。虽然这些描述略存差异,但其表述的权力与权利主张并未中断。这对于中国论述周边海域中存在的历史性权利具有积极意义。

The formal definition and key elements of the territorial water regime in modern international law of the sea were eventually established during the period from the 1950s to the 1980s.Prior to this,there was a lack of consensus among countries regarding the legal nature or the spatial extent of the regime.Throughout history,China has exhibited a sense of management and jurisdiction over its littoral waters.Before passively adopting Western international law,Qing Dynasty China implemented an“inner sea”and“outer sea”system for management in these waters,dividing the ocean into different forms such as the“inner sea,”“outer sea,”and“dark-water sea,”which constituted a complex institutionalized regime.Although this system differs legally from the essential requirements of the territorial sea regime in modern international law of the sea,historians,based on extensive research on the“inner-outer sea”system,have generally reached a consensus on its implementation and institutional implications.Considering that during the same period,Western countries also did not reach a consensus on the management of littoral waters,national practices of these countries merely exhibited the initial characteristics of the territorial sea regime.Therefore,the“inner-outer sea”regime,as a historical jurisdictional practice implemented by China in its littoral waters,should be recognized as same legal significance as the practices of other countries during the same period.In the late 19th century,due to changes in the historical context,the Qing government attempted to engage diplomacy with other nations based on the prevailing rules of Western international law,and tried to describe China's littoral waters using concepts from it.Although there were some discrepancies in these descriptions,the assertions of power and rights they conveyed remained uninterrupted.This has positive significance for China to present her historical rights in surrounding maritime areas.