Wu, the first doctor of law in modern China, signed the first equality treaty in modern China.

Wu, a native of Xinhui, Guangdong Province, is gifted with literary talent. 186 1 graduated from St. Paul's College in Hong Kong and worked as an interpreter in the High Court of Hong Kong. From 65438 to 0874, he studied law in England at his own expense. After graduation, he returned to Hong Kong as a lawyer.

Wu joined the shogunate of Li Hongzhang in 1882, and served as the general manager of Kaiping Railway Company and China Railway Company in the Westernization Movement promoted by Li Hongzhang and others. Kaiping Railway is the first railway built in China. He won the praise of Chinese and foreign public opinion for his excellent organization and management ability.

During Li Hongzhang's tenure as Minister of Beiyang, Wu assisted Li in handling foreign affairs and accumulated rich diplomatic experience. 1895 went to Shimonoseki, Japan for peace talks with Li Hongzhang. Both sides use English as the medium. Besides translating, Wu is also responsible for drafting documents and treaties. He followed Japan's outstanding performance and even the envoys of the enemy respected him more. His diplomatic skills won the admiration of those in power. 1897 was appointed as the sixth ambassador to the United States by the Qing government and has been active in the international arena since then. During his tenure as ambassador to the United States, Wu made great contributions to safeguarding the interests of overseas Chinese in the United States, especially Chinese.

Chinese have made indelible contributions to the development of the United States, especially to its expansion. However, due to various political and economic reasons, the United States has set off a wave of racist exclusion from China since the middle of the19th century. 1882, the U.S. congress overwhelmingly passed the Restriction Act on the grounds that it was detrimental to national security. The law stipulates that all kinds of Chinese workers are "suspended" within 20 years; Other students, travelers, businessmen, etc. People who go to the United States must have a certificate from the China government; No state in the United States can allow China people to acquire American citizenship. The passage of this bill pushed the wave of Chinese exclusion in the United States to its peak. Chinese workers were arbitrarily arrested, beaten, expelled and even shot in the United States, and suffered extremely deep suffering.

After Wu took office, China and the United States

As soon as Wu got off the bus, he began a non-stop campaign for the welfare of Chinese workers. It is worth noting that since Chen Lanbin, the self-appointed ambassador to the United States, the issue of migrant workers in China has become the focus of negotiations between the two countries. However, the State Council often ignored the representations of Special Envoy China, and did not reply after repeated notes and protests.

It was not until Wu became the minister that the American government's indifferent attitude towards the minister in China changed obviously. Whether the hospital agrees or not, Wu's note to the State Council will be answered in a few days. The president of the United States also gave Wu courtesy. The reason is that Wu is proficient in English, and more importantly, he understands the practices and skills of international negotiations, and he persists in fighting for the rights and interests of the people of China.

During Wu's six years as minister, he had a long and fierce debate with the State Council on the issue of Chinese workers. China's efforts have not achieved great results because of the stubborn stance of the US government to exclude him. However, Wujin has made many fruitful negotiations and won many rights and interests for the people of China, the most important of which is

Since 1882, when the US Congress passed the restriction bill, a series of bills advocating strict Chinese exclusion have been promulgated one after another. 1888 passed the Scott bill, prohibiting all Chinese workers from going to the United States. 1892, keeley act passed. This case not only prohibited China people from entering the country, but even exterminated China people in the United States.

1988, the second year after Wu took office, US Secretary of State John Hayward brought a note to Wu, saying that the US Attorney General had made a new regulation: "The documents issued by our consulate do not mean that the holders have the right to enter the country, and the US consulate has stopped signing these documents. People living in other countries in China must produce the certificate issued by the government of that country in accordance with the provisions of 1894. " This note means that only when China people go to the United States from the mainland will the China government have the right to issue documents. For China people living overseas, their documents for going to the United States will be issued by the country of the port of departure. If the consul of China issues a document, the United States will not recognize it. This is tantamount to depriving China of the consular visa right to enter the United States in other countries, further limiting the channels for China people to enter the United States. Its essence is the escalation of the anti-China movement.

After receiving the note, Wu carefully studied this clause and several previous Chinese Exclusion Acts, trying to refute this clause through their contradictions. In his reply to John Hai's note, he pointed out that the latest regulations violated the Provisions of the Sino-US Congress on Prohibiting China Workers from Coming to the United States to Protect China People Living in the United States, which was signed by 1894. The third paragraph stipulated: "If China people want to declare their interests when they come to the United States, they can obtain permission from China officials or officials of other countries at the exit. These documents will be examined by the signatories of American diplomatic envoys or consulates at the exit. This paragraph clearly points out that visas for China people to the United States do not restrict China people living abroad from obtaining visas from local governments. He also solemnly pointed out that China is an independent country, and she must safeguard her dignity and will not give up the right to apply for visas for her citizens.

Seeing Wu's intransigence, the US authorities proposed to submit the regulation to the US court for adjudication in an attempt to force the China government to accept it. When Wu knew this, he immediately noticed the sea. He pointed out that the United States has always adopted a dual-track approach of civil litigation and diplomatic channels in dealing with the immigration from China, and its courts often ignored public international law and put American law above international treaties. He also cited the scottie Act passed by 1888 as an example. "No matter how much the court agrees with unreasonable legislation, it can't make a government not comply with its obligations under the treaty it solemnly signed." Negotiations, policy coordination and visa issues between the two governments at the time of the conflict are matters between the two countries and cannot be resorted to court. He also insinuated that the United States is an independent government, and it is extremely absurd to submit international negotiations to the court.

His rebuttal is solemn and powerful, and his testimony is conclusive, which profoundly exposes the hegemonic behavior that the US government has always taken. Some American officials with a sense of justice are also ashamed, and they made a big speech during the congressional debate, trying to prevent the passage of this regulation. However, due to the U.S. government's consistent misinterpretation of the Treaty and exclusion of China's position, Wu did not solve this outstanding case during his term of office. But his struggle laid a good foundation for the work of the next minister.

The American government passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, and the wave after wave of Chinese Exclusion finally aroused the resistance of Chinese people. 1May, 905 10, Shanghai gentry and businessmen began to discuss boycotting the harsh American ban on Chinese workers and advocated banning American goods. The national media, academic circles and business circles enthusiastically supported the boycott of American goods, and immediately formed a national movement. Business scholars in major cities all over the country responded in succession, and overseas Chinese around the world quickly joined the boycott. Wu stayed in the United States for six years, witnessed the tragic situation of workers in China, and was eager to save the interests of the people in China. Therefore, he did not hesitate to stand up and actively run for the resistance movement. His active activities had a great influence, and even Americans thought that Wu took the lead in boycotting the United States.

When China set off a wave of American exclusion, Central and South American countries influenced by the United States followed suit. While fighting for the interests of American Chinese, Wu also made his own efforts for overseas Chinese in these countries.

1999 12 signed the China-Mexico trade treaty with the Mexican ambassador to the United States in Washington. Because China has signed treaties with foreign countries, the hosts are basically from traditional education background, and they don't know what public international law is, so they are often deceived by outsiders, and they hand over state sovereignty and people's rights to outsiders without knowing it. The Sino-Mexican Treaty signed by Wu was quite fair among all foreign treaties at that time, and five of them, such as tariff equality, China's waiver of foreign consular rights, punishment by local officials for those who made trouble ashore, China people's enjoyment of the interests of other countries, and China people's equal legal status with Mexicans, were never mentioned in the agreements with other countries. This is the first time that Wu has won an award for China. This undoubtedly provides the most reliable guarantee for the inviolability of China's interests in Mexico.

Peru, which was affected by the wave of American exclusion from China, also issued a decree in May 1909, prohibiting China people under 500 Jin from entering the country, and declared the Sino-Peruvian treaty 1874 invalid. The agreement stipulates that China and Peru will give each other MFN treatment, which is basically an equal treaty. Wu was entrusted by the government of China and arrived in Lima on June 6th to hold talks with the government of Peru. After nearly two months of negotiations, the Peruvian government finally recognized the validity of the Sino-Peruvian treaty 1874 and abolished the "Decree of May 14th". China agreed to voluntarily restrict the export of China workers. It was signed into effect in early July of the same year, and many harsh regulations and heavy taxes against overseas Chinese in Peru were cancelled.

When Wu visited the United States for the second time, he saw that the trend of American countries rejecting China was expanding. Especially those countries that have been friendly with China for centuries, as long as American forces expand there, the wave of Chinese exclusion will spread immediately. For example, the Hawaiian Islands and the Philippine Islands are in 1898. Even in some areas, the anti-China movement is carried out with the support of the United States. For example, Cuba in 1902, whose military governor was authorized by the President of the United States. Many countries in Central and South America are also influenced by the United States, causing a chain reaction of exclusion from China. Worried about this situation, Wu suggested that the government sign diplomatic envoys contracts with 16 countries in Central and South America to protect the interests of overseas Chinese. The Qing government attached great importance to Wu's suggestion and immediately sent a consul general to Panama. Shortly after the outbreak of the Revolution of 1911, Wu's ideal was gradually realized after the founding of the Republic of China.

Wu has been negotiating with other countries in Central and South China on immigration for more than ten years. As a diplomat of a weak country, he can gain something in foreign negotiations because his negotiations are based on the principle of putting the interests of the country and overseas Chinese first. This principle is embodied in the following two points in Wu's foreign negotiations:

First, diplomacy and internal affairs are both external and internal. This is a common-sense question, but for the princes and ministers of that era, some people may not understand its meaning. 1909 Wu pointed out when dealing with overseas Chinese in South America, "People are nationalities, and nationalities are nationalities." He believes that overseas Chinese support the Qing court. That is, with the "Ben", what is lacking is how to "repair". Therefore, he made suggestions to the Qing government, which was reforming its internal affairs and preparing for constitutionalism at that time, hoping that the government could understand that "diplomacy is closely related to internal affairs." In other words, everything that is "internal affairs" and "can win the trust of the people" will naturally return to the hearts of the people and the country will be strong. The words of diplomats are forceful, so as to protect overseas Chinese and increase people's centripetal force. "Ben" can be consolidated.

Second, protecting expatriates means protecting national rights. In his last speech, he pointed out to the Qing court that Britain was the most successful country in colonization.

That's what Wu said and did. He not only tried his best to save the rights and interests of overseas Chinese, but also tried his best to show the dignity of China.