Xinchou Treaty Gengzi Indemnity: Actual Compensation and Refund
Gengzi Indemnity: The Gengzi indemnity in the Xinchou Treaty, China's historical burden, is an indelible pain in China's modern history. According to the terms of the treaty, the amount of reparations will be paid to the countries in the form of ** for a period of nine years.
Initially, the Qing Dynasty paid on time according to the regulations, but with the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution, the issue of reparations began to become complicated. Due to the impact of the revolution, the provinces did not pay the indemnities on time, resulting in the inability of the Qing ** to be paid to the countries on time.
Under these circumstances, after consultations between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the ambassadors of various countries to China, it was decided that the powers would directly withdraw the compensation from the customs duties of the Qing Dynasty. However, since the customs and revenue department of the Qing Dynasty was managed by a foreign state at that time, the customs duties received were all deposited with foreign banks, which made the issue of compensation even more complicated.
However, God seems to take special care of China. When World War I broke out in Europe in 1914, the Entente countries offered a moratorium on payments in order to win China's accession.
After China's formal entry into the war, the Allied envoys in China informed China** that starting from December 1, 1917, China would postpone the payment of indemnities to the United States, Britain, France, Italy, Belgium, Portugal and Japan for five years, without interest.
On March 14, 1917, China** announced the severance of diplomatic relations with Germany and the payment of indemnities was suspended. On 14 August, war was declared on Germany. Subsequently, in accordance with Article 128 of the Treaty of Versailles signed at the Paris Peace Conference on June 28, 1919, Germany renounced the Gengzi indemnity payments from March 14, 1917.
On January 10, 1919, the Entente countries signed a treaty with Austria, in which Austria agreed to renounce the indemnity paid to China after August 14, 1917.
In 1920, China signed a peace treaty with Hungary, in which Hungary agreed to give up the Hungarian part of China's indemnity to the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. In November 1917, the October Revolution took place, and since then there have been three moratoriums on payments in China.
On July 25, 1919, Foreign Councilor Garrahan issued a manifesto, stating that the Soviets voluntarily renounced all treaties signed between Tsarist Russia and China, unconditionally returned the rights to the Northeast and renounced the Gengzi indemnity.
But only if China recognizes the Soviet Russian regime.
Garrahan was shot during the 1937 Rebellion. On May 31, 1924, China and the Soviet Union established diplomatic relations and signed an agreement, in which the Gengzi indemnity was confirmed as follows: (1) the Soviet Union ** agreed to give up the Gengzi indemnity to China; (2) The indemnity will be used to develop China's education after the priority is given to the repayment of the debts secured by such paragraphs; The Gengzi indemnity given up by the Soviet Union was mainly used for the following two educational undertakings: (1) from 1924 to 1926, 1.95 million silver dollars were used annually for the running of universities in Beijing; (2) From 1927 to 1934, 350,000 silver dollars per month were allocated to various universities in Pingjin.
It should be noted that the First World War gave China some benefits in terms of Gengzi reparations, as Russia, Germany, and Austria-Hungary, which accounted for half of the reparations, no longer had to be paid.
The reason why the Soviet Union chose to use the abandoned reparations for education was related to the U.S. policy of Gengzi reparations at that time. Although many people have heard that the United States took the lead in returning Gengzi indemnity money to China for education, such as the establishment of Tsinghua University and the funding of Chinese students studying in the United States, it gives people the impression that the United States is selflessly supporting and helping China.
Although I do not agree with the current ** propaganda as if the bad things in the world are directed by the United States, I also oppose some people describing the United States as a beacon of civilization and a savior of the people of the world.
We should have an objective and impartial understanding of the actions of the United States and its causes. The hero who really contributed to the return of Gengzi's indemnity by the United States was Liang Cheng, the Chinese minister to the United States at that time.
Liang Cheng, a native of Panyu, Guangdong, was a member of the fourth batch of Qing Dynasty children studying in the United States at public expense in 1875, and he once studied at Phillips College. Although Qing ** recalled the international students in advance, so that he could not complete his university studies, but the six years of studying in the United States gave him an in-depth understanding of the customs and customs of the United States, and he also learned to speak fluent English.
During his study in the United States, Liang Cheng successfully launched a negotiation with U.S. Secretary of State John on whether to repay the gold or silver of Gengzi's indemnity with his fluent English. In the course of the negotiations, Liang Chengcheng discovered that the United States had made mistakes in checking and making too many claims when planning the reparations.
He immediately seized the opportunity and made a proposal to John to reduce the compensation. Although John did not immediately agree, he promised to refer the matter to ** for deliberation. Liang Cheng's wit and wisdom were fully demonstrated in this negotiation, and his proposal also provided strong support for the subsequent reparations negotiations.
Liang Cheng is a Chinese who knows the meaning of refunds. He understands that the return of overcharged money can free up money that can be used for education or other important purposes. Within the United States, there was great opposition to the return of the reparations, but Liang Cheng did not give up.
He actively lobbied American civil society groups and *** to explain the importance of refunds, and proposed that refunds would be used to improve the education level of Chinese people, so that they can understand the world and integrate with civilization.
He also calculated that the actual amount of compensation due to the United States should be only $11.65 million, but the amount claimed was $2,444$800,000, more than doubled.
Under the pressure of his operation and society, on December 3, 1907, Roosevelt submitted a message to Congress, asking Congress to authorize the return of Gengzi indemnity for China's educational cause, and to send Chinese students to study in the United States.
On May 25, 1908, the U.S. Congress passed a bill to increase the amount of Gengzi indemnity from 2444080,000 to 1365$54.92 million, of which $1,078 was overclaimedThe $53.08 million was returned to China for education, and this decision was signed by Theodore Roosevelt on December 28, 1908, and was officially implemented on January 1, 1909.
The refund adopts the principle of compensation first and then refund, that is, the amount of compensation stipulated in the treaty shall be paid to the United States, and the United States will deduct the actual amount of compensation after receiving the compensation, and then return the excess amount to the liquidation.
In September 1909, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Qing Dynasty and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs jointly held a recruitment examination for students studying in the United States, and in the same year, the Department of Foreign Affairs of the United States also conducted a recruitment examination, and admitted a total of 63 students to study directly in the United States in the second session.
In 1909, the first batch of Gengzi indemnity students studying in the United States took a group photo with Zhou Ziqi, the general office of the American Affairs Office, Tang Guoan and Fan Yuanlian, the general office of the conference office. According to the feedback of the first three students after they went to the United States, the Tsinghua School was officially established on April 29, 1911 as a preparatory school for studying in the United States.
The official full name is Tsinghua Imperial College, which was renamed Tsinghua School after its establishment in 1912.
In addition, the balance of the money returned to Tsinghua was $4.09 million, which Taiwan later used to rebuild Tsinghua University in Hsinchu. In 1921, U.S. Senator Lodge submitted a proposal to the Senate to give the entire unpaid balance of the Gengzi indemnity to China.
After the proposal was reintroduced on December 6, 1923, on January 12 and February 28, 1924, Representatives Magee and Porter respectively proposed the return of the Geng money.
In the end, at the public hearings held from March 31 to April 2, 1924, the following views were endorsed by the majority of the Congressmen: (1) China and the United States are both democracies, and a strong China is beneficial to the United States and the rest of the world; (2) Gengzi's indemnity is not a debt, but a punishment for Qing**, and the balance should be returned to China for the sake of justice; (3) After the first refund, China** did keep its promise to use it entirely for education, with outstanding results, and never interrupted payment; (4) The first refund promoted the friendship between China and the United States, and obviously won the favor of Chinese towards the United States; (5) China's future leaders are educated by the United States and close to the United States, and the United States can gain diplomatic and economic benefits; (6) Other countries are also negotiating the return of China's Geng money, and the United States, as an advocate, should play an exemplary role.
In the end, the House of Representatives voted to pass the bill on May 8, the Senate passed the bill on May 10, and Coolidge approved the bill on May 21, and the US Congress officially decided to return the Gengzi indemnity to China.
Coolidge of the United States** submitted that it was confirmed that from 1909 to 1940, China should pay an annual reparation of US$539,588, and the United States** has decided to return all of this indemnity to China every year.
The refund was made in the same way as the first one, with China** still handing over the original amount of compensation to the United States, and the United States** returning it to China after receiving the monthly compensation.
In order to ensure the rational use of funds, the diplomatic and educational circles of China and the United States have established a board of directors of Chinese education and culture, which is fully responsible for managing the use of the second return of Geng.
As of 1949, there was still $1166681 on the books of this refund. With the defeat of the Kuomintang to Taiwan, this fund continued to fund education and cultural undertakings in Taiwan, and made an important contribution to the establishment of Taiwan's higher education system at that time and the stability of the lives of professors in various universities and colleges in Taiwan, which was used until 1970.
The actions of the United States in this matter, regardless of their purpose, have served as a good example. Later, Britain also planned to follow the example of the United States, and in 1911 it first proposed to refund 400,000 pounds of reparations for the establishment of a university in China, but the British Treasury objected and rejected it.
In order to allow China to join the Entente, Britain agreed to return the Gengzi indemnity, of which Zhu Erdian, the former minister to China, was an active promoter. However, Japan strongly opposed this, and Britain delayed on the grounds that it was necessary to consult with the countries concerned, until in 1922, when Yan Huiqing again proposed the return of Geng money in his speech, which was sympathized and approved by the British delegation of Lords.
In December 1922, Britain officially notified China that it would return the Gengzi indemnity with the consent of Parliament. Refunds in the UK are not only for education, but also for industries, such as building railways, fighting floods, and participating in the development of electric power companies.
In addition, the UK refund also funded cultural and educational undertakings, including the establishment of libraries, museums, higher education research institutions, study abroad education, etc. Although France's Gengzi indemnity was mishandled, most of the money was eventually used to subsidize the costs of bailing out the Sino-French Industrial Bank and education cooperation projects that were facing collapse.
Italy's reparations were grossly unreasonable, but after the British and Americans announced refunds, they were finally established in 1933, with about $11 million not to be paid. Belgian and Dutch refunds were used for education and domestic construction, while countries such as Spain, Sweden and Norway paid in full.
This series of refunds has injected new vitality into China's education and industrial development, making the first period a peak period in China's history of education and cultural development.