Study On The Legal Problems Of Railway Foreign Loans In Late Qing Dynasty

Along with the in-depth development of westernization and foreign traders inlate Oing Dynasty, the rules of private law in the West gradually enter the Chinesevision. Railway construction, in a sense, is the continuation of the westernizationmovement,. Railway financing issues which related to national sovereignty andeconomic rights intertwined with political and diplomatic issueis, provides a usefulperspective for us to inspect the application of western rules of civil law in modernChina. Based on railway foreign loan as the breakthrough point, we can review policyand the law and its relationship of the late Qing Dynasty from combines theinternational charter and domestic legislation. Combining static analysis and dynamicanalysis, we can explore foreign loan relationships from the national law andinternational law, and explore the contract responsibility from the contract binding,and on this basis, to study the efforts and effect of the using of the rules of private lawto safeguard the sovereignty and economic rights in late Qing Dynasty, and discussesthe cognition and application of the rules of early Chinese, and examines legal andpolitical, diplomatic relations and other issues. In terms of research methods, thisthesis tries to Search for proposition about rules from the historical practice. Becauseof the problems in railway loan involves many problems and a wide range, the thesisbased on the most important parts of the document, words and works, from the simpler analysis and interpretation of history of relatively to combing normativepropositionAfter researching on the issue of significance, the ideas and methods andmaterials and other issues, the thesis from the following five aspects to discuss issuesrelated to:The first chapter is the development of foreign policy and the establishment ofthe railway debt policy in the late Qing Dynasty, mainly from three aspects such asthe inflow of foreign capital and its early attention to railway, and industrial salvationand the development of foreign policy and the policy of railway external debt. Withthe establishment of economic policy to encourage industrial development, theproblem of domestic capital shortage has become a bottleneck to implement industrialpolicy, the government and the community had to in the emphasis on the protection ofstate rights and to seek cooperation with foreign capital. Railway foreign loans, hasthe characteristics of to take the initiative to introduce by Chinese government andenterprises, although some times with harsh conditions and aggressive nature, butgenerally speaking, China has the freedom to choose in a certain extent, on this basis,use and restrictions on foreign capital policy is gradually established.The second chapter is the analysis of legal system and content of railwayborrowing of late Qing, analyze three aspects mainly from the international law anddomestic law system of the regulation of foreign loans of railway, and the policyguidance of the law and the main provisions of the contract. Treaty is avoided innegotiations with Foreign Railway Loans in late Qing, the Qing government moreinclined to other documents to confirm the rights and obligations of both parties. Thegovernment tries best to use domestic legislation to implement its foreign policy. Inthe process of legislation, the Qing government was not simply to fulfill treatyobligations, but further implement its policy to limit foreign investment. Similarly, insigning the treaty, and in the process of the performance of the treaty, the Qinggovernment to raise funds runs primarily railway financing policy as a guide, to resistforeign traders, and to protection of rights, and to occupy the active position. At thesame time, loan has been linked to concern and realistic of right-of-way lost phase, from the analysis of guarantee terms and conditions, it can be seen that, on the onehand, people generally don’t satisfied with the loss of right, on the other hand, the lackof domestic funds and the breeding of corruption forcing people to accept the loan,only through the choice of the form of a guarantee in order to mitigate foreign controland reduce losses, although the effect is not so obvious.The third chapter is about the implementation deviation of the law in the practiceof foreign borrowing of the late Qing Dynasty official railway, analyze mainly fromthe contract signing and implementation, lifting, etc, and foreign factors of thecontract. Originally, Chinese people for the modern business investment andborrowing don’t quite understand, but with the increasing validity of the contract andother issues, the contract also has more and more favorable for us. On the one hand, inthe case of weak, the government tried to will lending to commercial issues; on theother hand, super economic benefits of railway loan is associated, and the Qinggovernment tried to achieve diplomatic and economic policy through business means.At the same time, foreign governments tried to all sorts of reason to interfere in thecontract, although the Qing government has resisted, but the effect is notdeterministic.The fourth chapter from the point of view of the articles of association of thecompany and its practical inspection business railroad resistance and its effect on theloan, the main business office railway company’s boycott of foreign capital in theoriginal and resist lending efforts and its effect are discussed. All rise to borrowexternal debt turmoil, commercial office railway company to assume the loan debtmission. By combing can be seen, the loan contract has been established in therailway generally do not resist, more and more people is aimed at such as the railwaywhich loan contract is not signed. As it were, the rejection process of debt is rational,at least in form, is the activities to point of contract. With the contradiction and mutualrecriminations between government and businessmen, the construction of road havebeen delayed, or turned to seek for foreign borrowing. business profit demand themerchants determines the tense relations to the foreign capital can only be " probableor relativity ", and, when gained influence and power in the Rights Recovery Movement, merchants and government who are to consolidate its power became adebate issue. Therefore, it brought about controversy and factional struggle more.Because of the chaos and the efficiency of company management and the less ofpublic support, the country once again intervention will become inevitable, andeventually led to the state-owned railways, large external borrowing policyimplementation.The fifth chapter from the two aspects of domestic law and international law, toanalyze the impact of Railway Foreign Loans on the concept of law of people at thattime, mainly from impact on the domestic private rights concept and constitutionalmovement and the cognitive of private law and the sovereignty of people. The mainrailway loan negotiations as well as the subsequent rise of the recovery rightsmovement and railway foreign debts of state-owned, and borrowing policy and so on,is in the New Deal in the late Qing Dynasty. Under the background of each classperiod, the gentry and merchants, claim rights and the government accountability toprotect the rights of the legitimacy, and ultimately to request financial supervisionreform, and promote the implementation of constitutional such as open Congress,community autonomy and so on. At the time of contract negotiation with foreigners,People with international law and private law rules to respect the sovereignty of China,which can not be fully effective, but in a certain sense has played a role to resistaggression.The last part is conclusion, based on the review of the full text, from diplomaticand business legislation, and foreign policy direction in the legal literacy and legalconcept of the period of the Chinese people, combs and analyzes the legal problemsof Railway Foreign loans. Through the analysis, we can find, whether legislation orpractice, is all about policies, is the way to realize the policy means, and even in someaspects, just is to prevaricate foreigners. At the same time, the legislation has certainpertinence, legislative restriction on borrowing but is ultimately is to be tools thegovernment control the commercial railway company. In a formidable environment,problems of railway fund-raising, construction in late Qing often by the businesscategory and into the " negotiations " category, China Railway rights for foreign government intervention and a large number of loss, therefore, the Qing governmentand the social from all walks of life have to be railway loan problem in the categoryof sovereignty under the title in the business activities, but the effect not with certainty.In the practice of loan and the movement of consequent to debt, people private rightconcept and constitutional ideals gradually mature, and the understanding ofinternational law and western law, also established the idea foundation to themodernization of China which dominated by Western.