Chapter 11 10. China was elected as a non-permanent member of the League of Nations

On the same day, the non-permanent members of the League of Nations (referred to as the League of Nations) were re-elected, and China was elected as a non-permanent member.Some high-level officials in the Nationalist Government celebrated this, as if China's international status had undergone a qualitative improvement, and it was already a world power. After World War I, the League of Nations was established on January 16, 1920, according to the Covenant of Nations adopted at the Paris Peace Conference.Headquartered in Geneva.There are 63 countries that have joined in succession.As the initiator of the establishment of the League of Nations, the United States did not participate because it failed to compete with Britain and France for leadership.So at the beginning, the permanent members of the League of Nations were actually only Britain, France, Italy, and Japan; after Germany joined the League of Nations in 1926, it became the fifth permanent member.Japan and Germany withdrew in 1933, and Italy in 1937.The Soviet Union joined in 1934 and was expelled in 1939.Because certain major powers were not included from the beginning, the League of Nations has always lacked the universality required by an international organization, and because it has been controlled by Britain and France for a long time, it has not only violated the wishes of the vast number of small and medium-sized countries, but also acted as an opponent of imperialism. A tool for the redistribution of colonies, the irreconcilable contradictions between the imperialists eventually led to a new world war.After the outbreak of World War II, the "League of Nations" existed in name only.

Therefore, the League of Nations is not enough, let alone a non-permanent member of it?But this incident has a certain symbolic significance - in the 1920s and 1930s, China's international status "has improved". Things start with the Paris Peace Conference in 1919.Although the big powers ignored China's legitimate rights and interests and betrayed China at the peace meeting, the Chinese delegation refused to sign the peace treaty in the end. positive influence.US President Wilson, who favored Japan at this peace conference, was fiercely criticized by the ruling and opposition parties after returning to China. His opponents in Congress criticized his approach on the Shandong issue of my country as "the darkest in the entire history of our country." One page" is "an intolerable blunder against humanity and for the cause of liberty and justice".It is also the first time in the history of the United States that the China issue has attracted the attention of the American public and political circles so much.As a result, not only did the Shandong issue hang up, but to a certain extent, it also planted the seeds for China's harvest at the Washington Conference in the future.

At the Washington Conference held in 1921, China achieved some substantial benefits.China's chief representative Shi Zhaoji asked all countries to respect China's territorial integrity and political and administrative independence, and stated that China would not cede or lease its own territory or coastal areas to other countries. The ten principles for solving China's problems should be canceled or abolished as soon as possible. At the meeting from February 2 to 4, 1922, the Chinese representative once again issued a statement on the Twenty-One and the Shandong issue: "The 1919 Sino-Japanese Treaty and the Exchange of Letters should be reviewed fairly and discarded."Finally, from February 4th to 6th, the "Sino-Japanese Treaty on Solving the Outstanding Shandong Issue and its Annex", "Nine Nations Treaty on Principles and Policies Applicable to China's Events", "Nine Nations Treaty on China's Tariff Rules" Among them are the provisions in favor of the Chinese side regarding the pending case in Shandong: the return of the old German leased territory of Jiaozhou to China; the withdrawal of Japanese troops from Shandong; China's redemption of the Jiaoji Railway, etc.The treaty also stipulates: Since the implementation of the treaty, the provisional agreement between China and Japan on the reopening of Qingdao China Customs on August 6, 1915 is invalid, and "Qingdao Customs shall immediately become a part of China Customs"; Mines, saltworks, submarine wires, radio stations, etc. were all handed over to China, and the detailed methods of handover were agreed upon by the Sino-Japanese joint committee on the handover of administrative power and public property mentioned above.To a certain extent, these clauses took care of China's desire to resolve the issue of sovereignty over Shandong, and also achieved the purpose of the foreign powers to contain Japan.

Of course, when mentioning China’s rise in international status in the 1920s and 1930s, one cannot fail to mention the “revolutionary diplomacy” implemented by the Nanjing Nationalist Government.During the Northern Expedition, Chiang Kai-shek said in a speech: "Our revolution has two targets, one is the feudal system, which is the domestic warlords, and the other is diplomacy. After the domestic warlords have been defeated from Beijing, the Northern Expedition has finally come to an end." . "The success of our final revolution depends entirely on how we deal with our second target, and it all depends on whether the diplomatic difficulties can be broken. Whether this goal can be achieved depends on whether the unequal treaties can be cancelled."This passage shows Chiang Kai-shek's self-awareness as the head of the Chinese government, shows the new atmosphere of the Nanjing Nationalist Government in foreign policy, and directly affects the formulation and implementation of the Nanjing Nationalist Government's foreign policy.

The first is the Reformation of the New Testament movement. On June 15, 1928, the Nanjing Nationalist Government issued the "Declaration to Foreign Countries", saying: "Now that the reunification is complete, we should further follow the proper procedures and implement a new contract to fulfill the purpose of equality and mutual respect for sovereignty." On July 7, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs proposed three principles for the rewriting of the new covenant: 1. Those who have expired will be abolished and a new covenant will be signed; If the agreement has not yet been decided, another provisional method shall be formulated to deal with everything.At the same time, the method and steps for revising the new covenant were announced.Since then, the movement to revise the New Testament has been carried out with great fanfare. In July 1928, the "Treaty on Arranging the Customs Relations between China and the United States" was first concluded.Then signed the "Sino-German Treaty."Concluded "Tariff Treaties" with Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and France.Signed "Treaties of Amity and Commerce" with Belgium, Italy, Denmark, Portugal and Spain. In 1930, a new customs treaty was concluded with Japan, and the movement to revise the new treaty ended.The major issues in the New Testament movement were tariffs and consular jurisdiction.The countries that signed the new treaty all recognized China's tariff autonomy.In the "Treaties of Friendship and Commerce" concluded with Belgium, Italy, Denmark, Portugal, Spain and other countries, there are such clauses: "The people of this contracting party, within the territory of that contracting party, shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the laws and courts of that contracting party." Explanation These countries have agreed to abolish consular jurisdiction. On April 27, 1929, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Nanjing Nationalist Government sent a note to the ministers of Britain, France, the United States, the Netherlands, Norway and other countries in China regarding the abolition of consular jurisdiction. None of the above countries explicitly objected. In May 1931, the Nanjing National Government promulgated the "Regulations on the Implementation of Jurisdiction over Foreigners in China", but the implementation date was repeatedly postponed.It was not until the Anti-Japanese War that the unequal treaties were abolished.

Accompanied by the movement to revise the New Testament was the movement to recover the concessions. In January 1927, the Northern Expedition forcefully took back the British concessions in Hankou and Jiujiang.If it was before the First World War, Britain would definitely send troops to "punish" this "illegal atrocity".But times have changed, and Britain is no longer able to "punish" China, so it has to acquiesce in China's recovery of the concession and withdraw its troops from Wuhan.The withdrawal of British troops made Japan feel cold, and felt that the Chinese army's forcible recovery of the concession would fall on itself sooner or later.However, the Japanese Empire, which is the closest to China and has the strongest rising momentum, will never allow the Chinese army to forcibly take back the concession.On this point, Chiang Kai-shek, commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition Army, was also very clear. In March 1927, after the Northern Expedition captured Nanjing, Chiang Kai-shek specially invited Japanese journalists, implying that the Northern Expedition would not include the Northeast.But the leftists of the Kuomintang made it clear that the Northern Expedition would not exclude the Northeast.

The improvement of international status is achieved by oneself, not by others.Therefore, if one insists on thinking that China's election as a non-permanent member of the League of Nations is a sign, then it is also a "result" rather than a "cause". Although China's international status has improved, the Chinese authorities have seriously misjudged their understanding of the essence of international relations and how China should compromise in such an international relations framework. The behavior of the big powers can create enough constraints. On the one hand, they believe that as long as they skillfully use the differences in the interests of major powers, they can protect China's interests through international maneuvers.It was these two fatal misjudgments that made the Chinese authorities blindly believe in international justice and axiom after the outbreak of the September 18th Incident, and waited every day for the League of Nations to intervene to restrain Japan.But having said that, China's fragile unity and weak national strength also forced the Nanjing government to grasp the life-saving straw of the League of Nations—even if it knew it was just a straw, it had no choice but to grasp it.