| Unequal treaties are essential sources of Chinese tariff law from 1840 to 1949.Chinese tariff is regulated by the unequal treaties and the system of Chinese customs governed by foreign inspectorate stems from unequal treaties as well.After two Opium Wars,the closed-door policy of the Qing Empire ended.The establishment of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs governed by the male relatives of the Emperor made the system formed by unequal treaties a special part of the regime of the late Qing dynasty.Thus,the sovereignty of China was not eliminated,but covered or replaced by the sovereignty of the powers.In the system of unequal treaties,Chinese customs could not be independent.China lost its administrative power of the customs,was robbed of the right to keep the taxes under the custody of Chinese government,and could not decide the tariff independently.The British Empire,the United States of America and Japan have played important roles in the contest of seizing the power to control Chinese customs.They have been fighting,plotting,bargaining and compromising with each other.With the growth and decline of the strength of those three countries,they turned to be the dominator of Chinese customs by turns.Whoever controlled Chinese customs would control China's economic lifeline.Accordingly,tariff autonomy is the goal that Chinese governments have been striving to achieve from 1840 to 1949.Chinese customs is the focus of the contradiction between China and foreign countries,and it is the key issue in the unequal treaty system of China.From the perspective of the influence of the evolution of international relations on the tariff law,we can grasp and understand the connotation and historical significance of Chinese tariff law from 1840 to 1949 more comprehensively.One of the most important figures is Robert Hart,a British man,who is the 2ndInspector General of Chinese Customs.He is the real founder of the new Chinese customs in the late Qing Dynasty.He served as the Inspector General of Chinese Customs for 48 years.Hart manipulated and controlled China's domestic and foreign affairs through the male relatives of the king in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,made the new Chinese customs an indispensable and important institution deeply relied on by the Qing government,and turned the Chinese customs into the cornerstone of British relations with China and the"International office"under British control to balance the interests of each"contracting country".Although some new policies were adopted at the end of the Qing Dynasty to weaken the Inspector General's administrative control over the customs,they had not yet produced practical effects.The the Qing Dynasty was over,while the unequal treaties signed between the Qing government and the powers were recognized by the later governments.The system of Chinese customs governed by the foreign inspectorate was not changed,and the Chinese customs were still controlled by the powers.After the 1911 Revolution,Beiyang Government inherited the unequal treaties left by the Qing government.China was still tightly bound and badly influenced by the unequal treaty system.Francis Arthur Aglen,the British Inspector General of Chinese Customs,seized the custody and control of customs duties and taxes during the revolution.Through the management of debts and compensation,Aglen controlled China's financial power.The Revenue Council was set in vain,and the power of Chinese Customs Superintendents was further weakened.Aglen acted only under the orders of the British government and foreign legations,just like the"supreme emperor"of the Chinese government.After the outbreak of the first World War,China joined in the war under the such inducement of the Allies as being given power status,delaying the payment of Boxer Indemnity for five years,and promising to revise the customs tariff.China took the opportunity to abolish the unequal treaties with Germany and Austria,stopping paying the two countries'debts and indemnity,and beginning to strive for tariff autonomy by diplomatic means.After the war,diplomats represented by V.K.Wellington Koo proposed China's tariff autonomy through the Paris Peace Conference and the Washington Conference.The results were not satisfactory.However,with the change of international situation and the growth and decline of trade between powers and China,the attitudes of Britain,the United States and Japan towards the revision of China's tariff changed.Through collective negotiations with the major powers,China could not achieve practical results,and gradually changed into a strategy of breaking through each other,breaking through the limitations of the treaty system by creating individual cases.The first equality treaty was signed by making use of the identity of the victor and the defeated Germany,which opened a gap for the elimination of unilateral tariff treaty.The abolition of the unequal treaty between China and Belgium,created a precedent and showed China's determination of tariff autonomy,which had great impact on the unequal treaty system.The northern and southern governments of China both announced levying surtax and the subsequent dismissal of Aglen symbolized executive self-determination after China was unable to obtain real tariff autonomy through diplomacy.It had great influence on the system of unfair tariff conventions and the system of Chinese customs governed by the foreign inspectorate.China had taken the first step of tariff autonomy and opened up the path for Nanjing National Government to recover tariff and administrative autonomy of customs.After the establishment of Nanjing National Government,in order to maintain its own ruling interests,it carried out active diplomatic activities for tariff autonomy and signed new tariff treaties with 16 countries successively,abolished the tariff bound by unequal treaties since 1843,and China's tariff autonomy was recognized by those new treaties signed by National Government and major powers.At the same time,the Ministry of Finance set up Directorate-General of Chinese Customs to manage the customs and implemented customs system reform.Thus,Directorate-General of Chinese Customs put the Inspectorate General of Customs under its control.It performed the principle of equity between Chinese and foreign customs officers and paid more attention to training and promoting domestic talents.The National Tariff Commission was established.Nanjing National Government issued and implemented four independent national Tariff and Rules during the period from 1929 to1934,breaking through the"five out of 100"treaty tariff rate which had been restricted to for more than 80 years.The gap between China's tariff level and that of foreign countries was narrowed and China's fiscal revenue greatly increased.Domestic and local taxes such as Likin and Transit Dues,which had been practiced for more than 70years,was abolished,promoting the development of domestic commerce and foreign trade.However,these achievements did not mean that China's tariff sovereignty was fully recovered.The fact that Nanjing National Government led by Chiang Kai-shek was recognized by the great powers such as Britain,the United States and Japan was the result of its collusion and compromise with these imperialist countries.As the new agent of the imperialist powers in China,Nanjing National Government could not completely realize tariff autonomy.Although it issued and implemented the so-called national Tariff and Rules,it failed to really get rid of the influence exerted by the imperialist powers and was unable to stop the dumping of goods from those imperialist powers and provide full protection for the national industry.The system of Chinese customs governed by the foreign inspectorate was preserved,consular jurisdiction was not abolished and many unequal treaties still remained in force.Chiang Kai-shek had held his non-resistance principle to Japan's aggression ever since Japanese invasion of the Northeast China on September 18th,1931.He had been compromising with Japan until Japan invaded North China On July 7th,1937.Before that time,he had attempted to seek international assistance and stop Japan's aggression with the help of Britain and the United States,While Britain and the United States tried to make use of Japan to restrain the Soviet Union and boycott the Communist Party of China.Thus,the two powers pursued the appeasement policy to Japan,which resulted in the isolation of Nanjing National Government.After a series of Sino-Japanese compromise agreements,Nanjing National Government retreated to Chongqing.Through establishing and manipulating puppet regimes in Japanese occupied areas,Japan carried out the strategy of supporting war with war,plundered China's resources and invaded from Northeast China to the south in an attempt to encroach on and annex China and dominate the Far East.Four puppet regimes were established,including Manchukuo and Reorganized National Government of China led by Wang Jingwei.These regimes governed the Japanese occupied areas respectively under the manipulation of Japan.The customs of Northeast China,North China and Shanghai were all seized by Japan.Japan took control of the administration of customs and the Custody and disposition of taxes eventually.Frederick Maze,the Inspector General of Chinese Customs,who told the inspectorate that the functions and powers of the Inspector General of Customs are granted by the Chinese government,not derived from the treaties,required the inspectorate to obey the orders of the government and never interfere with other customs tax money beyond debts and Indemnity.He also said it was necessary to restore China's sovereignty over customs affairs and maintain the current customs system as well.But,in practical terms,during the process of Japanese seizing Chinese customs,he insisted on maintaining the current system of customs,didn't follow the government's instruction of closing the customs under the control of Japan and setting up new customs stations on other places,and didn't hesitate to sacrifice the administrative sovereignty and tax custody of Chinese customs to maintain the superficial integrity of customs administration under the rule of Inspectorate General of Customs,so as to keep Chinese customs under the control of Britain.For this purpose,he actively assisted Britain,his motherland,to negotiate with Japan,and rendered Britain and Japan to sign Anglo-Japanese Customs Agreement on Chinese customs issues without the participation of China.He implemented the illegal agreement with firmness,recognized Japan's custody of customs duties,deposited the taxes in Yokohama Specie Bank,practiced low tax rates,and extended the application of those measures to the entire occupied areas by Japan.Finally,the Pacific War broke out,the Japanese arrested and imprisoned him,and Kishimoto Hirokichi was appointed as the Inspector General.The compromise of the British government and Frederick Maze with Japan resulting in Japanese control of Chinese customs within the whole Japanese occupied areas.All of British and American commissioners were replaced by Japanese commissioners.The Japanese finally succeeded in controlling the Chinese customs in the whole Japanese occupied areas.Japanese also replaced English as the language of customs official documents.In order to support the Japanese army and the puppet regime led by Wang Jingwei,the customs imposed transit tax,collected customs taxes with currency issued by the puppet regime,along with enormous smuggling and dumping of Japanese cargoes,rendering huge economic losses of China.In the face of the dilemma that the customs in Japanese occupied areas were completely seized by Japan and the coastal areas were blockaded by the Japanese army,National Government reconstituted the Inspectorate General of Customs in Chongqing,opened up new trade routes,established a number of inland customs,strengthened anti-smuggling,levied wartime consumption tax,recovered the custody of customs tax through the implementation of the public treasury law,suspended the payment of foreign indemnity,and made great efforts to save money and resources,so as to maintain the wartime economy.After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War,all the Japanese commissioners quitted.National Government took over the customs in Japanese occupied areas.Some inland customs were eliminated or reorganized.Chinese commissioners were appointed.The Customs Import and Export Tariff and Rules of 1934 was resumed,currency exchange was carried out,foreign exchange and trade management was improved,measures of anti-smuggling were taken,tariff autonomy was recovered.Customs were under the control of National Government again except for Dalian,which was announced as a free port according to Yalta Agreement concluded by Britain,the United States and the Soviet Union and Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Alliance and its relevant annex.After the Soviet army entered Dalian port,the United States did not enjoy the same trade treatment,and National Government failed to recover Dalian Customs after several negotiations.With the advance of the war of liberation,customs all over the country were finally taken over by the people's power led by the Communist Party of China.After the Pacific War,the United States changed its previous compromise attitude towards Japan,began to form an alliance with China,strengthened military cooperation with National Government,increased assistance to China,granted China the status of a great power through a series of international conferences,relied on China to eliminate Japanese fascism,and took China as the main force against the Soviet Union to maintain its proper order in the Far East and safeguard the interests of the United States.At the same time,the United States and Britain jointly surrendered their privileges in China and negotiated with National Government to conclude new treaties,giving China a seemingly equal and reciprocal treatment.However,British government refused to return Kowloon and Hong Kong.In 1946,the United States and the National Government signed Friendship Treaty of Commerce and Navigation,which covered the actual inequality with apparent equality considering the difference of economic strength between two countries.With British retreating from China's customs,the Americans took over the power of customs and opened a convenient door for the dumping of American goods.After China's accession to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade?GATT?,the Customs Import and Export Tariff and Rules of 1934 had been comprehensively revised according to the tariff schedule,forming complex tariff with both the agreed tariff rate and the national fixed tariff rate.However,the tariff did not protect China's industry and commerce,but was conducive to the inflow of American goods,leading to the monopoly of American goods in the Chinese market,and resulting in China's huge import surplus in successive years.Since 1843,when tariff was set down in the treaty between Britain and China,to resume tariff autonomy had been China's goal for more than one hundred years.From the implementation of the administrative reform in the late Qing Dynasty to limit customs power,the establishment of Directorate-General of Chinese Customs to change customs subordination,the efforts of Beiyang government to strive for autonomy through diplomacy,to the endeavors of Nanjing National Government to carry out Treaty Re-negotiation Movement and issue national Tariff and Rules,tariff autonomy was not really realized.what are the obstacles hindering the realization of this goal?It is found that the unequal treaty system is the root.Real tariff autonomy cannot be achieved without the complete abolition of unequal treaties.With the development of international relations,in the light of the rise and fall of the strength of Britain,the United States and Japan,the three powers competed fiercely against each other for the control of Chinese customs in order to grasp the economic lifeline of China and maximize the interests of their own.Unequal treaties were still the tools employed to hide substantive inequality in formal legitimacy.However,the governments mentioned above could not break with the imperialist powers,thus they could not entirely fulfil tariff autonomy.Nevertheless,we cannot deny the efforts and progress made by China from 1840 to1949 to strive for tariff autonomy.The loss and recovery of China's tariff autonomy is also the process of China's passive involvement in the international trading system.The tariff law which is closely trade-related is deeply influenced by international environment and international relations,and can not evolve and develop in accordance with its own will of a country.With the development of globalization,the competition among countries becomes more and more intense,and the trade war becomes more and more fierce.At present,in the context of the tariff war launched by the United States against China and the suspension of the World Trade Organization,Chinese government once again reaffirms its position of firmly safeguarding the multilateral trade system.China has suffered a lot from unfair tariff conventions in the past.Today,China is actively integrated into the world free trade system and is bound to remain committed to the international law principles of equality and reciprocity in multilateral trading system negotiations,playing an important role to maintain an open and fair free trade order in globalization. |
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