從英方檔案看1950年代國府的「關閉政策」

The 'Port-Closure Policy' of the ROC Government: From the View of the British Consulate in Tamsui, 1950-1960

1949年6月，中華民國政府宣稱，將「關閉」所有在中共控制之下的中國領水以及海港，並以海空武力禁制各國船隻進出被「關閉」的港口。政府使用「關閉」一詞來描述此種近乎海上封鎖約行為，是為了避免引發關於交戰權利以及其他國際法理的爭議，並藉以強調，「關閉本國港口」乃是行使主權。然而，大多數主要國家，特別是英國，基於對華貿易以及航運的利益起見，都不接受此種說法，並視之為一種不合法理的手段。儘管英國早在1950年1月6日便撤銷對中華民國的承認，但仍保留其淡水領事館，處理台灣地區的商貿業務，並作為中英兩國政府的交流管道。由於大多數經營大陸沿海航運及貿易的船隻都登記為英國或香港籍，國軍在執行關閉政策時「干涉」英國船隻的事例也就十分頻繁，成為中英之間的嚴重糾紛，而身為對中華民國政府交涉的第一線，淡水領事館對於這類事件也投以相當的關注。淡水領事館呈報給英國外交部的定期報告已經出版，即Taiwan Political andEconomic Reports。藉由這些報告中所提及的大量「干涉航運」的案例，吾人可以描繪出1950年代中華民國政府「關閉政策」的型貌，並顯現出淡水館領事官們以何種角度對此進行分析及評估。除了以國際大環境、美國冷戰政策來解讀之外，他們也慣於強調「英國因素」，如中英關係的冷暖、中華民國政府／國民黨高層的反英情緒，乃至英國海軍為英國商船護航，抗拒國軍艦艇等等。本文不僅希望能描繪關閉政策的基本輪廓，更希望藉由英國方面的視角，讓讀者能從另一個方向來回顧1950年代的台海冷戰局勢。

In June 1949, after the fallen of Shanghai, the ROC government announced to'close' all Chinese territorial waters and seaports controlled by CCP and to disallow vessels of any nationalities getting in or out the'closed ports', by the enforcement of ROC navy and air force. This is almost a kind of naval BLOCKADE in fact, but the ROC government used the term CLOSE in order not to raise the question of belligerent rights or other controversies m international law, and emphasized that'closing the domestic ports' was its sovereign right. But most of the major countries, especially the United Kingdom, concerning the interest of trading and transporting in the mainland China, did not accept this kind of view and considered that the'closure' was an unlawful measure. Although UK had withdrawn the recognition from ROC since Jan. 6, 1950, she maintained her consulate in Tamsui (淡水), Taiwan, for handling the commerce affairs and business in Taiwan, and therefore it became the communicating channel between the ROC and UK government While most vessels served in the coastal shipping and cabotage of mainland China were registered in the UK or Hong Kong, the'interference of British shipping (in order to enforce the port-closure policy)' from ROC armed force were very frequently, and the Tamsui consulate, as on the frontline dealing with the ROC government (withdrawn to Taiwan m Dec 1949), paid much attention on these incidents, which became one of the major problems between ROC and UK The regular reports from Tamsui consulate to the British Foreign Office were printed in the collection Taiwan Political and Economic Reports. These reports, which included many'interference' cases, could be used to draw the outline of the'port-closure policy' of ROC during the l 950's, and indicated the view of Tamsui consuls in estimating and analyzing the situation and action They used to explain the'interference' actions with the international environment, the US cold war policies, and the British factor the changes of Sino-British relations, the anti-British atmosphere in the ROC and/or KMT high-rank circle, and even the armed intervention of the Royal Navy to escort the British vessels from ROCN warships. In this article, I hope that it could provide not only the outline of the'port-closure policy', but also give the readers another point of view to rediscover the situation and conflict of the cold war in the Taiwan Strait during the l950's.