私产·市债·工潮——民国时期收回天津比租界的历史考察

Private Leasehold,Debenture and Strike:A Historical Survey of the Retrocession of the Tianjin Belgian Concession in the Period of the Republic of China

天津比租界是南京国民政府时期唯一一个完全通过谈判收回的租界。该租界设立后,比利时政府并未着意建设,而是将其经营权让与私人公司。1927年比方在中比修约谈判过程中承诺交还该租界,随后的交还谈判却由于比方在'私产'问题上做文章及北京政府的垮台而中辍。南京国民政府与比利时签订平等新约后,中比重开谈判,双方在比租界专管公司资产性质、租界市政债务等方面僵持不下,其间比商天津电车电灯公司工潮的爆发打断了谈判进程。而后,比方在英国的影响下提出以向中方出售地亩的方式偿还市债的方案,最终南京国民政府妥协让步,双方订约。中国收回比租界的交涉过程既反映出比租界特殊的治理模式所引发的连带问题,亦凸显收回租界谈判中诸如私产性质、市债处置及列强在修约问题上互为援引等共性问题。

The Belgian Concession in Tianjin was the only concession whose sovereignty was regained purely through negotiations during the reign of the Nanjing Nationalist Government.Ever since its establishment in 1902,the Belgian government had not devoted much energy to its development.Instead,its right of management was conceded to private corporations.In 1927,the Belgian government promised to return the concession to China in the negotiation over the revision of the Sino-Belgian treaty.However,the following negotiation on the retrocession was held back by Belgium’s insistence on exploiting the notion of'private property',and as the Beijing Government collapsed,the negotiation failed to reach an agreement.After the signing of the Sino-Belgian equal treaty,the negotiation restarted between China and Belgium,and the two parties kept arguing over the problems of the nature of property owned by'la Sociétéanonyme de la Concession belge de Tientsin'and the debenture of the municipal administration.The outbreak of the strike of Tientsin Tramways&Electric Lighting Co.,Ltd,a company owned by Belgian merchant,interrupted the negotiation.After the Belgian raised the proposal of China paying back the debenture through the purchase of the land from the company,aplan inspired by the British,the Nanjing Government compromised and the two parties reached the agreement.The negotiating process not only reflects the related problems brought about by the unusual administrative mode of the Belgian Concession,but also shows the common issues such as the nature of the private leaseholds,the payment of the debenture,and the collusions and collaborations between the Powers during the negotiations over the concession retrocession.