Chapter 28 A contract to protect Chinese laborers

Since the mid-nineteenth century, with the invasion of Western capitalism, China has been reduced to the abyss of a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society. Many Western countries plundered and sold Chinese laborers from China's coastal ports to South America, Oceania, and Pacific islands as slaves.Overseas, Chinese laborers were treated inhumanly and suffered all kinds of hard labor and punishment. Peru was the main force at that time trying to carry out this kind of activity.In 1854, Peru promulgated the decree to emancipate black slaves, resulting in an extreme shortage of labor force in the country. Therefore, Peru began to implement the Chinese decree, and encouraged the plundering of Chinese labor force to supplement the shortage of labor force.

As a result, Peru greatly intensified its plundering of Chinese laborers. In 1864, there were more than 6,000 people, and by 1875 it had reached 110,000.Chinese laborers were treated inhumanly and cruelly in a foreign country, which aroused Li Hongzhang's deep sympathy and great concern. He said that in Peru, nine out of ten Chinese laborers died. If this illegal activity is not stopped, the people will be poisoned , what will be the end date. In 1869 and 1871, the Zongli Yamen received distress letters and complaint letters jointly written by Chinese laborers in Peru.After Li Hongzhang learned of this incident, he sympathized with the experience of the Chinese workers abroad.He believed that the imperial court should make decisions for them and protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese laborers.

In August 1873, Peru signed a treaty of friendship with Japan, and its plenipotentiary ambassador, Gercier, came to China afterwards.He wanted to sign a treaty with China in Beijing, but failed. In mid-October, Gercier arrived in Tianjin and negotiated with Li Hongzhang for eight months.Li Hongzhang wanted to take this opportunity to strictly enforce the recruitment regulations.But Gercier wanted to legalize the trafficking of Chinese laborers.The ideas of the two countries are diametrically opposed. On October 24, during the first negotiation, Gercier refused to admit that Peru persecuted Chinese laborers. Instead, he argued that Peru had laws to protect Chinese laborers.Li Hongzhang also cited cases over the years as evidence, including the "Complaints of Public Complaints" jointly written by Chinese workers in 1869 and 1871, which described the tragic experience of Chinese workers in secret: they worked day and night , Sometimes they even wear shackles when they work. They don’t have enough to eat, don’t wear warm clothes, and the working environment is very bad.All of these are documented and prosecuted, and the Chinese will not turn a blind eye to them.Only when Peru first unconditionally returns the 100,000 abducted Chinese laborers, and no longer conducts such illegal activities, China agrees to sign the contract.Li Hongzhang's attitude was very tough.

Relying on the support of Britain and France, Gorcier was domineering during the negotiations, thinking that this would make Li Hongzhang submit obediently, but he was surprised when he hit a hard nail. Negotiations began again on October 26.Gercier continued to defend the persecution of Chinese laborers, and at the same time he had to go to Beijing to present his credentials, hoping to use the power of ministers from various countries to force the Qing government to submit.Li Hongzhang took out the original copy of Hua Gong's "Complaints of Suffering", and Gercier had to bow his head in front of the facts.Afterwards, Li Hongzhang said again: Our great emperor has heard about the abuse of Chinese laborers in your country for a long time, so he will not be happy to hand over the letter of credence.This dealt a powerful blow to Gercier's attempt.Later he told Li Hongzhang that it had only been seven months since Peru signed a treaty with Japan, so he also wanted to sign a treaty with China as soon as possible.Li Hongzhang retorted: Ru came to China with a delay of three years, and I am afraid that the agreement will still fail.How can it be explained clearly after three years of negotiations because as many as 100,000 Chinese were abducted.This caught Gercier off guard and speechless.

In subsequent negotiations, the two sides were still at loggerheads.Li Hongzhang told him that China's principle is to first formulate a charter for the protection of Chinese laborers, and then China will send personnel to Peru to investigate, and then sign the contract.But Gorcier ignored this positive suggestion and refused to send back the murdered Chinese workers.He threatened that whether to protect or not to protect the Chinese laborers is all about signing a contract or not.He also threatened the Qing government to agree to sign the contract by returning to China to sever diplomatic relations, but Li Hongzhang still firmly refused to make concessions.Gercier stayed in Tianjin for two months, but couldn't achieve his goal at all. He complained that Tianjin was a bad place, so he went to Beijing.But the Zongli Yamen still let him return to Tianjin to continue negotiations with Li Hongzhang.Gercier invited envoys and consuls from various countries, such as Wade and Phillips from the United Kingdom, Shi Bo from the United States, and Lin Chun from France, to mediate.These people seem to be neutral on the surface, but they are actually on the side of Peru.

British Minister Wade asked Mei Huili to come to Tianjin to tell Li Hongzhang: Peru sent an envoy to negotiate a treaty with China. If China ignores it, it will be despised by all countries. Urge him to sign the treaty as soon as possible, and there is no need to use the imperial treasure. There is no need to exchange them regularly.Li Hongzhang believed that this was a matter of making a private treaty, and he firmly refused to agree, saying: It is really difficult to agree at this level.He was very dissatisfied with the British minister's protection of the Peruvian side, so he criticized Wade to Mei Hui, and asked Mei Huili to tell Wade that if it is difficult to strengthen China, he must not obey his orders.

In May 1874, Gorcier returned to Tianjin to renegotiate. Li Hongzhang was very aware of the significance of this negotiation, knowing that he was responsible for the future fate of the Chinese laborers, so he could only do his best to fight for their rights.He debated and repeatedly refuted and revised major issues, and finally signed the "Draft Investigation and Handling Regulations", which achieved certain results in the protection of Chinese laborers. After that, Gorcier proposed a draft of the treaty, a total of 51 articles, saying that the treaty should be signed in accordance with international customs, and his attitude was very strong.Li Hongzhang did not show weakness, and also put forward 20 points in a targeted manner. This time, Gorcier still opposed it.Later, Li Hongzhang considered that if an agreement was not reached as soon as possible, the more than 100,000 Chinese people in that country would inevitably be poisoned even more. The Prime Minister's Office also indicated that some concessions could be made.In the end, Li Hongzhang negotiated with Gorcier on the 19th article of the trade treaty and the special investigation and handling clauses that had been signed in accordance with international law. On the premise that both parties made concessions, they signed a protection agreement on June 26, 1874 The "China-Peru Investigating and Prosecution of Chinese Labor Special Articles" and "Sino-Peru Friendship and Trade Treaty" 19 articles of Huagong.

The treaty gave the Chinese laborers a certain degree of legal protection.In order to completely solve the problem of selling and persecuting Chinese laborers, Li Hongzhang argued with Gorcier repeatedly, almost back and forth dozens of times, and finally came to a satisfactory result. Waiting for the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Peru, and preparing to formally sign the contract in the second year. Next, Li Hongzhang will solve the problem of the miserable situation of Chinese laborers in Peru and Cuba.At the end of the year, Chen Lanbin and Yung Wing submitted investigation reports on the situation of Chinese laborers in Cuba and Peru respectively.As early as when China and Peru were negotiating, Li Hongzhang had sent Rong Hong secretly to Peru to investigate.The investigation brought back testimonials, photos, statements and witnesses, all of which showed that Chinese workers were treated more miserable than blacks. They were sold to Kaishan, sugar houses, cane planting and guano islands, and many of them had not reached the contract period They were beaten to death or committed suicide, or were thrown into a stove or a sugar pan to die.The bloody facts proved that Peru did not implement the treaty at all.

On the eighth day of June in the first year of Guangxu (1875), the Peruvian ambassador to change the contract, Elmore, came to China and was immediately severely criticized by Li Hongzhang. The method of protection is to add clauses, or add notes, and then exchange the previous agreement.Li Hongzhang was going to ask Peru to make a written guarantee for the protection of China, but it was unsuccessful, so he no longer directly negotiated with the secret envoy, but asked the Qing government to send Ding Richang to replace him, and he himself was in command behind the scenes. Ding Richang launched diplomatic negotiations according to Li Hongzhang's policy.However, it was difficult for the two sides to reach a consensus, and the negotiations almost collapsed.At this moment, Britain and the United States put forward a guarantee, saying that Peru would definitely hand over the note after the contract was renewed.Li Hongzhang still stubbornly insisted on his original opinion. At the same time, he wrote to the Zongli Yamen, saying: I have never been familiar with the fact that the abuse of Chinese workers in this place is so real. The abuse of Chinese workers in this country is worse than that of dogs and horses, and there are countless people who commit suicide every day.All flesh and blood will gnash their teeth.If we don’t make it clear in the note today, that is, change the contract with them vaguely, then the former Chinese laborers will not be able to survive, and the Chinese laborers who returned later will die. The people who live here have no hope of coming to Su.

He pointed out that in order to protect the interests of Chinese workers, the contract must be changed carefully.The court agreed with him.He presented an ultimatum to the Peruvian ambassador, announcing that if there is no further concession, China will take action: 1. Suspension of ratification of the Treaty; 2. Publicize Peru's breach of contract and abuse of Chinese workers to other countries; 3. If you still refuse to add the note when renewing the contract, you don't have to go to Beijing. Amorel was very passive, and he said angrily: It seems that Mo Ruo should go to Japan immediately.

With Yung Wing's investigation materials, Li Hongzhang and Ding Richang became more powerful in the negotiation. They said to Amorel: The place where the Chinese laborers suffered, the time when they suffered, and the name of the bully are all reliable. Faced with the facts, Amorel had no choice but to admit that Yung Wing's statement of the abuse of Chinese laborers was evidence.In this way, he issued relevant notes, and Li Hongzhang also made concessions on some issues that were not relevant to the overall situation.On the seventh day of July, Elmore issued a statement to protect Chinese workers: Peru will give Chinese immigrants the most active protection to prevent them from being subjected to minimum abuse; ensure that they can live and work in peace and contentment as well as their personal safety and property; It also promised to closely cooperate with the envoys sent by China, and discuss with them the matters concerning Chinese workers.The Sino-Peru treaty was also officially signed in Tianjin on this day. The "Special Provisions on the Investigation and Prosecution of Overseas Chinese Laborers in China and Secretaries" is the first treaty in modern China to protect overseas Chinese.Li Hongzhang wanted to let all the overseas Chinese workers know that the imperial court had not forgotten them.Although the Qing Dynasty is weak, it will still do its best to protect its subjects.Li Hongzhang said that if the overseas Chinese know that the imperial court is still thinking about them in a foreign country, it will definitely arouse their patriotism and arouse their righteous heart of loyalty to China.From this, Li Hongzhang thought that the Chinese workers were far away from China, and the imperial court had no way of knowing their situation and safety.Therefore, Li Hongzhang also considered how to send envoys to overseas countries.The Qing government took it very seriously, and decided to send Chen Lanbin as the Minister of the United States, the West, and Mysteria, and Yung Wing to help with all matters.However, it was not until the beginning of 1878, when the Qing government had sent Jian envoys for nearly three years, that Chen Lanbin dilly-dally went abroad to take up his post. The "China-Peru Special Rules on Investigating and Handling Chinese Laborers" improved the treatment of Chinese laborers in Peru to a certain extent.This is a landmark treaty for the protection of overseas Chinese in modern Chinese history.From the start of the negotiation to the official contract renewal, there was a heated debate that lasted for two years.Facts have proved that Li Hongzhang was the initiator and active promoter of the policy of protecting Chinese laborers in modern history.