中國撤銷客郵與日本的外交因應(1920-1922)

The Abolishment of Japanese Post Offices in China and Japan’s Diplomatic Response, 1920-1922

19世紀後，各國以中國沒有郵政機關為理由，在中國設立客郵。日本於1876年在上海開辦客郵，之後隨著旅華日僑人數增長，日本客郵也隨之增加。1920年中國在馬德里國際郵政大會向各國正式提出撤銷客郵的期望，但日本對此態度十分冷淡。主要是因為日本在華客郵數量位居各國之冠，若是中國撤銷客郵，恐對日本既得利益造成嚴重影響。繼國際郵政大會後，中國也在華盛頓會議上要求各國撤銷在華客郵，對此日本與英國要求將租借地客郵列在廢除範圍外，再加上日本要求中國郵政機關調整外籍郵務人員人數，幾經交涉後，各國同意在1923年1月1日之前撤銷客郵。華盛頓會議後，中日雙方在北京交涉，兩國代表於1922年12月簽署郵政協定，同月日本撤銷客郵。雖然如此，圍繞南滿鐵路附屬地客郵的處置與討論，中日雙方卻一直未達成共識，最終成為懸案。以往雖有一些著作論及客郵爭議，但討論仍然不足，尤其是未能看見日本方面的角度。本文運用中日文資料，分析日本對中國撤銷客郵的外交因應及其歷史意義。

After the 19th century, Western countries established foreign post offices and encroached Chinese sovereignty. Japan established Japanese post office in Shanghai in 1867, after that, as Japanese residents increased, Japanese post offices also increased in China. In 1920, Chinese government indicated a formal request for the abolishment of foreign post offices at the conference of the Universal Postal Union. However, because Japanese post offices had a majority, Japanese government, which was afraid of losing their interests, had an uncooperative attitude toward China. China required to abolish the foreign post offices at the Washington Conference. Japan and Britain required to exclude the foreign post offices in the leased territories, furthermore Japan pointed out that the Chinese Postal organization need to adjust the number of the foreign postal administrators. After the negotiations, Japan and Western countries agreed to abolish the foreign post offices before January 1, 1923. After the Washington conference, China and Japan had negotiations over the postal problems in Beijing, in December 1922, Sino-Japanese representatives reached an agreement, and Japanese post offices were abolished in the same month. As to the post offices in the Manchuria railway zone, because both sides did not agree on this matter, finally became a diplomatic pending question. Regarding the abolishment of the foreign post offices has been discussed several times in the papers and books, but these are still insufficient, especially in the research from the Japanese perspective. This paper utilizes the archives to reveal the process and Japan’s diplomatic response to the abolishment of Japanese post offices in China.