RAS-1982 — Page 53

RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 All AI Reviewed

ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE POLITICAL SYSTEM

IN THE SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL

SETTLEMENT

J. H. HAAN*

In this article I shall examine the special governmental structure which came into being in the Shanghai International Settlement,1 and which was virtually unique among colonial or semi-colonial territories.

Put succinctly, the Settlement had the following characteristics:

1. It was a territory which had explicitly been set aside by the Chinese authorities (in 1845 on the basis of the 1842 Nanking Treaty) in order that foreigners might live in it and conduct their trade from it. For the rest it was surrounded by Chinese territory, different from, say, Calcutta, Bombay, Colombo or Batavia, which all lay in foreign-dominated areas, if not originally then eventually.

2. It was never the possession of any one single Western power. In this it was distinct from, e.g., Hong Kong, Singapore or Macau. In practice, this meant that no single foreign country was ever able to convert the city into a colony of that country, or to claim sovereignty over it.

In the crown colonies, government was conducted by a Governor who was appointed by the home country, and he was assisted by an Executive Council, equally appointed by the authorities; furthermore, there was a Legislative Council which consisted partly of official, ex officio, members and partly of non-official

* Mr. Haan is a student of the University of Amsterdam.

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ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE POLITICAL SYSTEM IN THE SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL SETTLEMENT J. H. HAAN* In this article I shall examine the special governmental structure which came into being in the Shanghai International Settlement,1 and which was virtually unique among colonial or semi-colonial territories. Put succinctly, the Settlement had the following characteristics: 1. It was a territory which had explicitly been set aside by the Chinese authorities (in 1845 on the basis of the 1842 Nanking Treaty) in order that foreigners might live in it and conduct their trade from it. For the rest it was surrounded by Chinese territory, different from, say, Calcutta, Bombay, Colombo or Batavia, which all lay in foreign-dominated areas, if not originally then eventually. 2. It was never the possession of any one single Western power. In this it was distinct from, e.g., Hong Kong, Singapore or Macau. In practice, this meant that no single foreign country was ever able to convert the city into a colony of that country, or to claim sovereignty over it. In the crown colonies, government was conducted by a Governor who was appointed by the home country, and he was assisted by an Executive Council, equally appointed by the authorities; furthermore, there was a Legislative Council which consisted partly of official, ex officio, members and partly of non-official * Mr. Haan is a student of the University of Amsterdam.

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ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE POLITICAL SYSTEM IN THE SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL SETTLEMENT J. H. HAAN* In this article I shall examine the special governmental structure which came into being in the Shanghai International Settlement,1 and which was virtually unique among colonial or semi-colonial territories. Put succinctly, the Settlement had the following characteris- tics: 1. It was a territory which had explicitly been set aside by the Chinese authorities (in 1845 on the basis of the 1842 Nanking Treaty) in order that foreigners might live in it and conduct their trade from it. For the rest it was surrounded by Chinese territory. different from, say, Calcutta, Bombay, Colombo or Batavia, which all lay in foreign dominated areas, if not originally then eventually. 2. In this it was It was never the possession of any one single Western power. In this it was distinct from e.g. Hong Kong, Singapore or Macau. In practice this meant that no single foreign country was ever able to convert the city into a colony of that country, or to claim sovereignty over it. In the crown colonies government was conducted by a Governor who was appointed by the home country, and he was assisted by an Executive Council, equally appointed by the authorities; furthermore there was a Legislative Council which consisted partly of official, ex officio, members and partly of non-official * Mr. Haan is a student of the University of Amsterdam.

2026-05-13 00:39:15 · Baseline

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ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE POLITICAL SYSTEM

IN THE SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL

SETTLEMENT

J. H. HAAN*

Put succinctly, the Settlement had the following characteris- tics:

1. It was a territory which had explicitly been set aside by the Chinese authorities (in 1845 on the basis of the 1842 Nanking Treaty) in order that foreigners might live in it and conduct their trade from it. For the rest it was surrounded by Chinese territory. different from, say, Calcutta, Bombay, Colombo or Batavia, which all lay in foreign dominated areas, if not originally then eventually.

In this it was

It was never the possession of any one single Western power. In this it was distinct from e.g. Hong Kong, Singapore or Macau. In practice this meant that no single foreign country was ever able to convert the city into a colony of that country, or to claim sovereignty over it.

In the crown colonies government was conducted by a Governor who was appointed by the home country, and he was assisted by an Executive Council, equally appointed by the authorities; furthermore there was a Legislative Council which consisted partly of official, ex officio, members and partly of non-official

RAS-1982 — Page 53

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