二十世紀初臺灣與福建商人間的國籍選擇與商業糾紛：以林謀昌案為中心

Nationality Choices and Commercial Disputes between Taiwanese and Fujianese Merchants in Early 20th Century: The Case of Lin Mou-chang

本文以「國籍選擇和商業糾紛」為視角，分析1906年「臺灣籍民」林謀昌在廈門因所屬商號「巖泉號」與法籍商號「萬寶源號」的商業糾紛而遭到逮捕一個案。過去關於外籍華人的討論多從官方交涉的角度切入，鮮少討論國籍選擇背後的商業目的，也缺乏討論關於商業糾紛背後的貿易網絡。該事件肇因於雙方利用廈門開港後的商業機會拓展自身的商貿範圍與規模，而在經營跨國貿易的過程中，因合作破局導致產生商業糾紛。雙方透過國籍的轉換在清國的訴訟體系中相互較勁，最後經清、日兩國的外交交涉，林謀昌得以被釋放。案件關係到雙方國籍背後所屬國家在福建的利益衝突，與福建當地的政治角力和運作相互作用，使案件中遊走於東亞間的商人，得以利用變更國籍和身分，獲得政治與經濟上的利益。

Past research on sekimin focused mainly on government diplomacy; there has been little discussion on the commercial objectives behind nationality choices, and scarce attention has been paid to the trade network behind commercial disputes. Using the case of a Taiwanese sekimin Lin Mou-chang, this paper reviews the nationality choices and commercial disputes between Taiwanese and Fujianese merchants in early 20th century. In 1906, Lin, who ran a firm called “Yen Quan Hao”, was arrested in Amoy because of a commercial dispute with a French firm “Wan Bao Yuan”. The dispute broke out because both firms expanded their scale of business under booming trade activities at Amoy that became a treaty port in late Qing era. The two firms sued each other under the Qing legal system. Following diplomatic mediations of both China and Japan, Lin was finally released. His case involved commercial interests of both Japanese and French governments, as well as the local politics in Fujian. In such complicated commercial setting, sekimin running businesses in East Asia (Japan, China, and Taiwan) had to choose or change their nationality so as to reap commercial benefits and avoid political disputes.