It is natural to repay the debt, but what if this debt has undergone several "dynasty changes" in the past hundred years?
In 2019, several Americans found the US government with "Huguang Bonds" and asked the US government to come forward to let our country "repay" the "debts" owed. However, the name of the "Qing Government" was written on these bonds was very eye-catching, and the time was stopped in 1911.
For a time, this "debt" spanning a century and era caused huge uproars in China and the United States.
What kind of story is behind this debt? How was this matter finally solved?
Huguang Bonds were issued in 1911, another debt owed by the Qing government in that turbulent era because of its lack of ability and cowardice.
On May 20, 1911, the Minister of the Ministry of Posts and Communications was asked to "cooperate" with German Dehua, British HSBC, French Oriental Huili and some American capital enterprises to sign a contract.
This is a contract for the Qing government to borrow money from the construction of railways in Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Sichuan and other regions, and the amount raised is as high as 6 million pounds.
But it is said to be a contract, but the Qing government, as the borrower, played an optional role in it. There is such a provision in the
contract that all the materials needed to build a railway must be purchased from the above-mentioned capitalist countries . Engineers and designers must hire them from these countries, and at the same time, they must also take out a large number of national lifeline industries such as "salt tax" as guarantee .
In other words, these capitalist countries not only demand the Qing government's debts and interest, but also try to directly divide China by controlling the railways and the mines on both sides. Their sinister behavior is really outrageous.
However, the Qing government still signed their names on this overlord contract, because at that time, a fierce " road protection movement " was being launched in the country. Many people insisted on the domestic self-organized railway and asked the Qing government to give up this contract that sells national sovereignty.
How did the Qing government not know the people’s voices? They did this simply to use the financial support of imperialism to suppress Chinese revolutionaries and protect their own interests. For their own regime, they can give up their dignity and even give up their territory.
Later, it seemed to be in order to reflect the formality of this contract, they issued "Huguang Bonds" as proof of the loan.
This is also the origin of "Huguang Bonds". However, it was the Qing government's operation that completely led their rule to a dead end.
As revolutionaries in China spread one after another, the feudal rule of the Qing government was quickly overthrown, and the domestic situation fell into turmoil. This debt seemed to be insignificant under the confrontation between the old and new eras.
According to the basis of this contract, the bonds have been suspended since 1938. In 1951, as the principal expired and unpaid, these bonds have long become empty-handed in the market and have no legal effect. However, as the current situation gradually stabilized, the United States, which has always been unable to bear the development of China, began to use all its strength to find trouble for our country.
After the 1970s, after the American citizen Jackson acquired these bonds at a low price, he openly took these bonds and asked our country to "repay" the principal signed by the Qing government and the interest generated over the years.
The Chinese government was also amused and laughed at the face of such unreasonable accusations, but the bonds had already lost their time limit, so the Chinese government ignored such unreasonable demands.
However, Jackson seized this point and immediately sued the People's Republic of China in the US court, hoping to pass US laws to force our country to repay its "debt."
The most ridiculous thing is that on November 13, the US court actually issued a "subpoena" to our country, requiring our country to submit a defense within 20 days in accordance with US laws, otherwise a "absence judgment" would be made in accordance with US laws.
And the United States' behavior has already put international law behind and completely ignored it.
Because according to international law, sovereign states are equal and independent, and one country cannot use its own laws to restrain another country, because these two countries have equal status. If this country is bound by the courts of another country, then this country is no longer a sovereign state.
" Without the consent of this country, the courts of another country cannot file lawsuits against this country ", which is the so-called principle of national sovereign immunity.
At least from the past to the present, this provision has been recognized by American international jurists, American administrative and judicial departments and other departments.
. The reason why they do this now is obviously not taking our country's sovereignty seriously, not to mention that the United States' method of joining this contract was not bright.
Originally, only Germany, Britain and France signed a contract with the Qing government, but on the way to sign the contract, the United States didn't know where the news was heard, so it toughly inserted it into it, wanting to get a share of it.
At that time, the negotiations between the Qing government and three other countries were already coming to an end, but the US government stated that if they could no longer participate in this "cooperation", they would refuse to reduce the Boxer Indemnity .
The Boxer Indemnity was originally the United States who saw the Qing government being weak and bullied, so they asked for a huge price, which was far higher than the original losses. Later, an official argued that the United States pretended to be generous and "reduce" half of the compensation, but the Boxer Indemnity after the reduction was still much higher than the original.
It can be said that the United States used the money that should not have been charged more to force the Qing government to agree to their joining the contract. Although the Qing government knew the intention of the United States, it still chose to surrender due to the American tyranny.
Relying on such disgraceful means, the United States successfully became a member of the contract.
As one of the parties to the contract, they knew very well that the bond had completely passed the statute of limitations decades ago, and neither Germany, Britain nor France continued to pursue the treaty.
The United States is doing this now just to embarrass our country.
Just imagine, this old debt was originally obtained by selling off the country's sovereignty. If our country chooses to surrender at this time and repays the principal and interest clearly, we are afraid that it will not only be ridiculed by the international community in the future, but also will also allow the United States to suppress China to succeed, which will directly affect the independence of our country's sovereignty.
Our government is naturally not to be outdone. After discussing with experts, the relevant departments decisively returned the transnational subpoena, and at the same time directly skipped the court and uttered to the US government in the name of the government: China must not be subject to foreign laws, and such old debts must not be repaid.
The US court ignored the negotiations proposed by the Chinese government and sent subpoenas to our country again and again. Faced with such a situation, our country had to ignore it. The two subsequent subpoenas were returned as it was, just like the first subpoenas.
Of course, in this process, our country and the US government also communicated at the official level, wanting to resolve this matter in a peaceful way as much as possible, but the United States does not seem to intend to give up.
In 1982, the Eastern District Court of Anzhou, the United States made a judgment in this case, and they sentenced the People's Republic of China to compensate plaintiff Jackson with more than $40 million in "absence compensation."
For a time, Jackson's lawsuit against our country quickly became a hot news in the United States. More and more American citizens began to join this criticized "fight", threatening that if China does not implement the judgment of the US District Court, it will seize Chinese property.
This judgment seems to be funny nowadays. When the US Secretary of State visited China, he said helplessly: " You know that the United States has always been the separation of powers of . The government has no right to interfere with the court's judgment, and even the US government must obey the court's judgment."
The highest leader of our country also fought back without any weakness: " You are the separation of powers within your internal affairs. The Chinese government has always only dealt with the US government and not with the US courts. What's more, if we really want to count it, has the US still owed less debts to the Chinese people over the years? "
The reason why our country dares to be so tough is because our legal experts have long anticipated that the United States cannot directly seize my country's property in the United States, because none of the related property has been directly related to Huguang bonds.
After that, the two sides argued on this issue, and eventually they reached an agreement, that is, the US Secretary of State issued a document indicating that Huguang bonds involve the interests of China and the United States, and hope that the other party can fully consider and attach importance to China's position.
And my country also made concessions, expressing its willingness to appear in court to defend at the request of the court.
Here, our country The words used are to defend rather than respond. That is to say, our country has never recognized this judgment, but is only willing to invite American lawyers to the local court on behalf of China, declaring that the court has no right to file a lawsuit against China, because it has been based on inequality and does not regard China as an independent sovereign state, and that China has no need to follow US laws.
After our country sent lawyers to declare the principle, the local court revoked the judgment of "absence compensation", which brought a positive signal to the exchange between the two sides.
However, not long after, with the development of the second negotiation, the US Secretary of State once again made a stunning splash. In his remarks, he said that the revocation of the verdict was only the beginning of the formal trial. If the Chinese government insisted on not being poppy, the court might make another judgment.
Both sides had to negotiate again on this.
After the first negotiation ended at a deadlock, our country's legal experts had to re-adjust the negotiation strategy. It happened that the U.S. independence anniversary was on the time of the United States, and the embassy in China was about to hold a grand event.
my country also congratulated the U.S. Embassy in China as soon as possible. In fact, our country's negotiating lawyers also have their own selfish intentions. They successfully diverted the attention of the head of the U.S. negotiating team through this incident, making China and the United States always stalemate. The problem of being unable to stand has guided the beautiful vision of common development between China and the United States. After putting aside interests, their conversation was still very pleasant. At the same time, China also conveyed something to the United States, that is, if China's interests are damaged, it will be harmful to the United States but not beneficial.
The US government seems to have felt the words of our negotiators, but they still want to struggle in the end.
In the last negotiation, the head of the US negotiator asked tentatively: " We have made many concessions. What should China do? ”
“We still stick to our original position and agree to invite lawyers to defend again. This is our final concession. You know, this is the first time since the founding of the People's Republic of China, and you shouldn't have asked this again. "
That's it. After eight days of negotiations between the two sides, the US State Department issued another document, stating that the "Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act" was passed in 1976 and should have no retrospective power.
In other words, although the "Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act" has become a law after the meeting, it has no right to govern and hear all economic cases that occurred before 1976 in turn.
is like this. After five years of storm, this storm finally It was declared the end. The case of
was eventually cancelled because of its lack of retrospective power. Although the US government did not pay the price for this farce, the courage and persistence in the negotiations in this negotiation have established a good image for all countries around the world.
This matter should have been revealed, but in 2019, a young man mainly from Tennessee farmer Bi'anka, who was the Tennessee farmer, jumped out with a bond and wanted to reuse the same trick to let the Chinese government repay the "debt" that was hundreds of years ago.
But no one paid attention to them this time. After all, even in the eyes of Americans, these bonds have become dispensable "collections". You can buy one online for even a few hundred dollars. What's more, this matter was finalized in 1984, so who would pay attention to it?
The most ridiculous thing is that when these bonds were smashed into their hands, someone even deceived the elderly, saying that these bonds were worth tens of millions of dollars and were publicly sold to the elderly. When they were discovered, they had already defrauded more than 3 million US dollars.
This incident once became a joke in the United States. To this day, no one is mentioning the matter of Huguang bonds, and this incident has completely become a thing of the past.
Because according to international law, sovereign states are equal and independent, and one country cannot use its own laws to restrain another country, because these two countries have equal status. If this country is bound by the courts of another country, then this country is no longer a sovereign state.
" Without the consent of this country, the courts of another country cannot file lawsuits against this country ", which is the so-called principle of national sovereign immunity.
At least from the past to the present, this provision has been recognized by American international jurists, American administrative and judicial departments and other departments.
. The reason why they do this now is obviously not taking our country's sovereignty seriously, not to mention that the United States' method of joining this contract was not bright.
Originally, only Germany, Britain and France signed a contract with the Qing government, but on the way to sign the contract, the United States didn't know where the news was heard, so it toughly inserted it into it, wanting to get a share of it.
At that time, the negotiations between the Qing government and three other countries were already coming to an end, but the US government stated that if they could no longer participate in this "cooperation", they would refuse to reduce the Boxer Indemnity .
The Boxer Indemnity was originally the United States who saw the Qing government being weak and bullied, so they asked for a huge price, which was far higher than the original losses. Later, an official argued that the United States pretended to be generous and "reduce" half of the compensation, but the Boxer Indemnity after the reduction was still much higher than the original.
It can be said that the United States used the money that should not have been charged more to force the Qing government to agree to their joining the contract. Although the Qing government knew the intention of the United States, it still chose to surrender due to the American tyranny.
Relying on such disgraceful means, the United States successfully became a member of the contract.
As one of the parties to the contract, they knew very well that the bond had completely passed the statute of limitations decades ago, and neither Germany, Britain nor France continued to pursue the treaty.
The United States is doing this now just to embarrass our country.
Just imagine, this old debt was originally obtained by selling off the country's sovereignty. If our country chooses to surrender at this time and repays the principal and interest clearly, we are afraid that it will not only be ridiculed by the international community in the future, but also will also allow the United States to suppress China to succeed, which will directly affect the independence of our country's sovereignty.
Our government is naturally not to be outdone. After discussing with experts, the relevant departments decisively returned the transnational subpoena, and at the same time directly skipped the court and uttered to the US government in the name of the government: China must not be subject to foreign laws, and such old debts must not be repaid.
The US court ignored the negotiations proposed by the Chinese government and sent subpoenas to our country again and again. Faced with such a situation, our country had to ignore it. The two subsequent subpoenas were returned as it was, just like the first subpoenas.
Of course, in this process, our country and the US government also communicated at the official level, wanting to resolve this matter in a peaceful way as much as possible, but the United States does not seem to intend to give up.
In 1982, the Eastern District Court of Anzhou, the United States made a judgment in this case, and they sentenced the People's Republic of China to compensate plaintiff Jackson with more than $40 million in "absence compensation."
For a time, Jackson's lawsuit against our country quickly became a hot news in the United States. More and more American citizens began to join this criticized "fight", threatening that if China does not implement the judgment of the US District Court, it will seize Chinese property.
This judgment seems to be funny nowadays. When the US Secretary of State visited China, he said helplessly: " You know that the United States has always been the separation of powers of . The government has no right to interfere with the court's judgment, and even the US government must obey the court's judgment."
The highest leader of our country also fought back without any weakness: " You are the separation of powers within your internal affairs. The Chinese government has always only dealt with the US government and not with the US courts. What's more, if we really want to count it, has the US still owed less debts to the Chinese people over the years? "
The reason why our country dares to be so tough is because our legal experts have long anticipated that the United States cannot directly seize my country's property in the United States, because none of the related property has been directly related to Huguang bonds.
After that, the two sides argued on this issue, and eventually they reached an agreement, that is, the US Secretary of State issued a document indicating that Huguang bonds involve the interests of China and the United States, and hope that the other party can fully consider and attach importance to China's position.
And my country also made concessions, expressing its willingness to appear in court to defend at the request of the court.
Here, our country The words used are to defend rather than respond. That is to say, our country has never recognized this judgment, but is only willing to invite American lawyers to the local court on behalf of China, declaring that the court has no right to file a lawsuit against China, because it has been based on inequality and does not regard China as an independent sovereign state, and that China has no need to follow US laws.
After our country sent lawyers to declare the principle, the local court revoked the judgment of "absence compensation", which brought a positive signal to the exchange between the two sides.
However, not long after, with the development of the second negotiation, the US Secretary of State once again made a stunning splash. In his remarks, he said that the revocation of the verdict was only the beginning of the formal trial. If the Chinese government insisted on not being poppy, the court might make another judgment.
Both sides had to negotiate again on this.
After the first negotiation ended at a deadlock, our country's legal experts had to re-adjust the negotiation strategy. It happened that the U.S. independence anniversary was on the time of the United States, and the embassy in China was about to hold a grand event.
my country also congratulated the U.S. Embassy in China as soon as possible. In fact, our country's negotiating lawyers also have their own selfish intentions. They successfully diverted the attention of the head of the U.S. negotiating team through this incident, making China and the United States always stalemate. The problem of being unable to stand has guided the beautiful vision of common development between China and the United States. After putting aside interests, their conversation was still very pleasant. At the same time, China also conveyed something to the United States, that is, if China's interests are damaged, it will be harmful to the United States but not beneficial.
The US government seems to have felt the words of our negotiators, but they still want to struggle in the end.
In the last negotiation, the head of the US negotiator asked tentatively: " We have made many concessions. What should China do? ”
“We still stick to our original position and agree to invite lawyers to defend again. This is our final concession. You know, this is the first time since the founding of the People's Republic of China, and you shouldn't have asked this again. "
That's it. After eight days of negotiations between the two sides, the US State Department issued another document, stating that the "Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act" was passed in 1976 and should have no retrospective power.
In other words, although the "Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act" has become a law after the meeting, it has no right to govern and hear all economic cases that occurred before 1976 in turn.
is like this. After five years of storm, this storm finally It was declared the end. The case of
was eventually cancelled because of its lack of retrospective power. Although the US government did not pay the price for this farce, the courage and persistence in the negotiations in this negotiation have established a good image for all countries around the world.
This matter should have been revealed, but in 2019, a young man mainly from Tennessee farmer Bi'anka, who was the Tennessee farmer, jumped out with a bond and wanted to reuse the same trick to let the Chinese government repay the "debt" that was hundreds of years ago.
But no one paid attention to them this time. After all, even in the eyes of Americans, these bonds have become dispensable "collections". You can buy one online for even a few hundred dollars. What's more, this matter was finalized in 1984, so who would pay attention to it?
The most ridiculous thing is that when these bonds were smashed into their hands, someone even deceived the elderly, saying that these bonds were worth tens of millions of dollars and were publicly sold to the elderly. When they were discovered, they had already defrauded more than 3 million US dollars.
This incident once became a joke in the United States. To this day, no one is mentioning the matter of Huguang bonds, and this incident has completely become a thing of the past.
