End Of The Qing Dynasty Republic Of China Railway Foreign Debts Research

This paper analyses the idea of Foreign Railway Loans in Modern China from a macroscopic point of view. It focuses on the period from the late Qing Dynasty to the early Republic of China, from the aspects of changes in modes, choices of creditors, and its function as the extension of Railroad Diplomacy and Interior Policy. With the evolvement of views on Foreign Railway Loans as the main plot, this paper gives a systematic and deep explanation about the evolvement procedure and its basic characters. It also presents a detailed research on the dilemma between borrowing foreign capital, accepting western economic ideas and protecting national interests and rights in dealing with the relation between China and foreign countries.This paper consists of three chapters:First: by examining some concrete examples of foreign railway loans, it reveals the course during which the modes of getting loans for railway building are probed into and applied in Modern China. According to the development of loan modes, the Views on Foreign Railway Loans in modern history can be divided into five periods. The first period is before the Sino Japanese war of 1894-1895, during which the government and the commonality first reject foreign loans for railway building, then accepted. The second period is after the Sino Japanese War of 1894-1895, during which the view of "mortgage the railway "is formed and thus many rights for railway are lost after the loans for building the Lu Han Railway. The third period began with redeeming the Yue Han Railway, during which the climax of repulsing loans was formed and this is simply because of the anxiety about the peril of whole nation. The fourth is re-advocating borrowing debts to build railway, which aimed at improving the conditions for loans and borrowing debts to save nation .The fifth period is in the early Republic of China, during which the people were first hopeful for the big powers' investment in china, but then became disappointed, reflected by the discussions on the advantages and disadvantages of the China Consortium(new bank groups).Second, based on the public opinions, this paper studies the basic views of the government and the commonality on foreign loan for_railway building, as well as various responses from those concerned in the concrete cases and in all circles. Thus it reveals the true motivation and value tendency hidden behind.Third, combining the domestic situation with the changing relationship between China and foreign countries, this paper examines the beyond- economy meaning the view on foreigw loan for railway building reflects .The former focuses on the study of how the relationship between the central and the local authorities affects the view on foreign loan for railway building, and makes comments on the special function that such a view does on the evolvement of the constitutional politics in the late QingDynasty; the latter focuses on how the two opposite views, the view of "Railway peril, China peril" and the view of "Borrowing loans to save China", came into being, developed and went against each other, and thus judges how the modern nationalist affected the view on foreign loan for railway building.Finally there are not only rich meanings in the view on foreign loan for railway building, but also its inner characters, which lies in the pursuit of economic and political independence. So it should be an independent part in social ideological research in modern China. This paper studies this influential view and reveals the basic intention of using foreign capital because Modem China was in inferior international position, and rebuilds a more reasonable theoretical framework and thinking mode for the less developed country's modernization.