日露戦後における大連税関の設置経緯 : 満洲開放と経営体制の確立

抄録

One of Japan's important policy issues after the Russo-Japanese War was a prompt opening of Manchuria to international commerce. For that purpose, in a meeting on the subject between Ito Hirobumi and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it was decided do adopt a policy emphasizing international cooperation rather than the more extreme views of such groups as the Japanese Army. The aim of the present article is to clarify to what extent the above policy direction influenced and determined the actual implementation in Manchuria. Following the War, Japan was faced with demands from the western powers to liberate Manchuria and thus decided to dismantle the military administration there and facilitate commercial activity. One problem at that time was setting up a custom-house in Dalian (present day Dalny), for if customs could not be collected there, those countries who traded at Newchang would be negatively affected. However, Japan could not accept a custom-house at Dalian unless the Russians set up one in northern Manchuria. So it sought the support of England and the United States to issue a joint recommendation to China that a northern Manchurian custom-house be set up and thus succeeded in persuading the Russians. In the process, in order to maintain England's support, Japan was forced to compromise on how the custom-house was to be operated. It was in this way that Japan's Manchurian policy following its war with Russia proceeded on a dual track within world affairs at that time : one heading for international cooperation, the other for establishing its own interests in the region. While the basic tone of the policy was international cooperation, it was also necessary to emphasize Japanese interests in the economic sphere. This type of diplomatic attitude would appear often in Japan's foreign relations with Manchuria for decades to come.