中華民國期上海共同租界における政治犯引渡について

Abstract

This article sheds light on the exercise of extraterritoriality by foreigners and its limits in China through an examination on the treatment of Chinese political refugees in the Shanghai International Settlement in the Republican era. Under foreign control, the Shanghai International Settlement was beyond the reach of Chinese law, and the Chinese government could not exercise sovereign power over the Chinese who been engaged in anti-government campaigns, which were considered political offences, after they took refuge in the Settlement. Beginning in the late Qing era, some Chinese had made use of the Settlement for political asylum. However, after the Xinhai Revolution, the revolutionaries' frequent comings and goings into the Settlement disturbed the peace of the Chapei district, the area adjoining the foreign Settlement. Once “revolutionaries, ” which included not only patriots but also rebels motived by personal hatred or gain, instigated a riot in Chapei and failed, they would flee back to the Settlement. Therefore, Chinese government and foreign municipal authorities started negotiations for an agreement to extradite Chinese political refugees in order to prevent them from using the Settlement as a base for intrigue. However, they were unable to reach a mutually satisfactory draft agreement. Moreover, these negotiations presupposed the extension of the foreign Settlement, which the Chinese government considered to be of little benefit, therefore, the negotiations were aborted, and the parties failed to reach a legally binding agreement. Under these circumstances in which the foreigners could not expect the co-operation of the Chinese government, the Municipal Council claimed that they had a right to deport or expel Chinese political refugees outside the Settlement at their own discretion. The British Consul General personally agreed to banish Chinese political refugees from the Settlement without legal proceedings. However, the British Consul General could not decide the treatment of political refugees alone. The Consular Body in Shanghai, an international organization, which put much store in judicial rulings, such as those of the Court of Consul and Mixed Court, rejected the opinion of the British. As a result, there were no definite rules on political refugees until 1930, and the International Settlement appeared to remain a place of political asylum for Chinese. Even though foreigners intended to exercise extraterritoriality to secure better order in the Settlement, they could not make practical use of it without the co-operation of the Chinese government and could not handle the Chinese political refugees in the Settlement unless there was a legal basis to do so. On the other hand, it was also difficult for Chinese refugees to use extraterritoriality to conceal themselves from the authorities.