| Consular jurisdiction was the core of the system of the unequal treaties in the modern history of China. Successive Chinese governments had made painstaking efforts to abolish consular jurisdiction since late the Qing Dynasty .The Justice & Right Conference, held by the Beiyang Government in Beijing in January, 1926, was a significant effort in particular hardships to put an end to consular jurisdiction.The "5.30 Nationalism Movement" greatly stimulated the anti-imperialist fervor of the Chinese people. And the Beiyang Government made good use of such an opportunity. On June 4,1925, it informed the imperialist powers concerned with a requirement to revise the unequal treaties. At the same time, diametrically opposed to the Beiyang Government, the Kuomintang Government in south China's Guangdong Province advocated "an abolish of any unequal treaty", which was rather popular among the masses of people, what the KMT really emphasized, however, was merely to attract more people's attention so as to make preparations for its Northern Expedition later, while it never actually took the abolition of consular jurisdiction into its consideration. Under such a circumstance as China was not competent enough to totally abolish consular jurisdiction, the "treaty-revising diplomacy" by the Beiyang Government was one of the diplomatic methods available them. Forced by the earthquking effect of the nationalism movements in China, and in order to relax the tension, the imperialist powers agree to send judiciary delegation , according to certain agreements by the Washington Conference, to undertake judiciary4investigations in China, or, to hold the Justice & Right Conference concerning consular jurisdiction.The Conference underwent three stages: the examinations in Beijing of China's legal documents, the investigations in different parts of China to the administrations of justice and the drafting of the Conference Report in Beijing. During the conference, the Beiyang Government promulgated as well as abolished many laws and decrees in order to improve the administrations of justice, after it failed to "extend its rights". Heads of local military groups unanimously expressed their strong wishes to abolish consular jurisdiction as soon as possible when the delegations were conducting investigations in different places. What particularly deserved to be mentioned was that it was with the support of Sun Zhengfang that Jiangsu local government regined the Court of Arbitration in Shanghai.The Guangdong Kuomintang Government resolutely resisted the Justice & Rignt Inverstigating Delegation. And at the same time, the intellectual circles and national opinions, focusing on the Conference, denounced consular jurisdiction from all aspects. The Justice & Right Conference ended on September 16,1926. Later, as the result of investigation, the Report of the Justice & Right Investigating Committee was announced to the world. Members of the committee from different countries suggested their governments not abandon consular jurisdiction in China then.The Report pointed out that there were too many drawbacks in China's laws as well as in the administrations of justice.Though people shew strong discontentions to the report . People at that time and later scholars never faced squarely the various disadvantages in China's politics.laws and justice administrations mentioned in the report. Instead they regarded all these as the powers'excuses to refuse the abandonment of consular jutisdiction.China's national power was weak at that time,which was the main reason why the efforts to abolish consular jurisdiction at the Justice Law & Right conference didn't achieve any decisive progress.In addition, the Beiyang government didn,t draw up adetailed scheme to abolish consular jurisdiction before the conference opened,what's more,the Minister of the Foreign Affairs then, Wang Zhengting paid more attention to the underway Tariff Conference in which the state soveignty was much concerned. All these were important factors that led to t... |
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