A Study Of The Overseas Chinese Affairs Bureau During The Beiyang Government

In 1914,the first World War broke out.The government of the Republic of China,which was in the initial stage of the country,decided to be neutral at the beginning.However,due to the efforts of the hawks led by Liang Shiyi,China began to try to participate in the war,but both requests for participation in the war were rejected by Japan.Later,because of the long battle line and heavy casualties,the Allies began to seek strength supplement from East Asia.China,with a large population base,is trying to join the war,and the two are on the spot.But at this time,China was poor and weak,with no soldiers and no pay,so it was difficult to send a large number of troops to fight overseas.Therefore,Liang Shiyi's plan of "replacing soldiers with workers" determined to send Chinese workers to participate in the difficult and complex logistics work in the field.In the beginning,China was neutral and inconvenient to participate in the war.However,since the "unrestricted naval warfare" by Germany affected Chinese people,China Power said that it would break off diplomatic relations with Germany and participate in the war.the Chinese government issued a telegram saying that it would break off diplomatic relations with Germany and participate in the war.At this time,Chinese workers,as the absolute evidence of China's participation in the war,should be given national level management and protection.On September 20,1917,the Beiyang government established the Bureau for Overseas Workers,which is directly under the State Council,and successively set up the branches of the Bureau for Overseas Workers in the export places of overseas Chinese workers,so as to better manage the export of overseas Chinese workers and implement the protection policies of the government and the general administration.During the whole period of its existence,the Bureau for Overseas Workers made a lot of efforts in the aspects of overseas Chinese workers' going abroad and protection,compensation for injuries and deaths caused by the European war,repatriation of overseas Chinese workers and so on.By the end of the first World War,the Bureau for Overseas Workers should be removed after the resettlement of Returned Overseas Chinese.However,due to the irreplaceable and important nature of its work,all overseas Chinese wrote letters to retain them.Finally,the Beiyang Government reorganized it into the Bureau for overseas Chinese Affairs,expanding its management scope and functions.Although the Bureau for Overseas Workers is the first official institution of overseas Chinese Affairs in China,its appearance ended the situation that the overseas Chinese affairs were jointly managed by the three ministries of foreign affairs,interior affairs and agriculture and commerce.However,due to the special political and economic environment of the Beiyang government,the Bureau for Overseas Workers did not reach the expected height.But after all,it is the first state-run overseas chinese affairs organization,and what it protects is the interests of overseas Chinese workers and their government.In the face of the weak government and the weak political bureau of the country at that time,it had made every effort to protect the Chinese laborers and promote the national status.It is the absolute basis for China to participate in the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 that Chinese laborers go abroad to participate in the war.However,due to the failure of the Paris Peace Conference and the historical reputation left by the Beiyang government,the overseas Chinese workers under the jurisdiction of the Bureau for Overseas Workers are also included in the oppression and bullying of imperialism,and their historical value has not been objectively recognized.This paper intends to start with various historical materials,investigate and study the establishment background,actual actions and historical image of the Bureau for Overseas Workers,in order to have a more comprehensive understanding of that period of history.