To Swear or Not to Swear?: Britain,Southeast Asia and the Attempt to Reform the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, 1964–1971

ABSTRACT

This article seeks to explore the British government’s perception of the role of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council as a method of strengthening cohesion amongst the Commonwealth community, and in particular delves into the constitutional and diplomatic challenges that the British government faced in its attempt to utilise the Judicial Committee in order to maintain close ties with its former Southeast Asian colonies in the 1960s. Suggestions were made by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Privy Council Office from the mid-1960s that newly-independent republics such as Singapore and Malaysia should be allowed to send its citizens to London as members of the Judicial Committee in order to dilute the prejudice against the Committee as a remnant of colonial rule. However, the proposals were rejected by the Lord Chancellor’s Office on the grounds that Asian judges were of insufficient calibre to sit as members of the Judicial Committee, and that citizens of republics were unable to swear an oath of loyalty to the British monarch as was required for all Privy Counsellors. The Privy Council Office were of the opinion that a new system could be introduced whereby the Judicial Committee member would not have to be a fully-fledged Privy Counsellor and therefore would not have to swear the oath, while the Commonwealth Secretariat put forward its argument that Asian judges were good enough to ensure standards of the Judicial Committee would not be lowered. However, the Lord Chancellor’s Office argued that such non-Privy Counsellors would only be ‘second-class’ constituents of the Judicial Committee whose rulings would be unacceptable to countries such as Australia and instead proposed the creation of a Commonwealth Court of Appeal which the Foreign Office deemed unrealistic. In the end, no judges from the Asian republics were allowed sit on the Judicial Committee, resulting in Malaysia and Singapore abolishing their appeals to the Judicial Committee in 1984 and 1994 respectively.     

中央财政经济委员会成立始末

中央财政经济委员会从 194 8年 9月中央政治局扩大会议提出逐步统一财经工作 ,到194 9年 3月中共七届二中全会正式决定建立 ,经过筹备 ,于 194 9年 7月 12日正式成立。中央财政经济委员会是由原中央财政经济部与华北财经委员会合并成立的 ,简称“中财委” ,由陈云任主任、薄一波任副主任。中财委成立后在短短两个月内 ,在稳定当时的金融物价、统一财经管理、调整工商业方面做了大量的工作 ,为建国初期财政经济的恢复和发展奠定了一定的基础。 194 9年 10月 2 1日 ,政务院财经委员会在中央财政经济委员会的基础上成立 ,5年后 ,政务院财政经济委员会撤消 ,其职能被国务院相关部委和直属机构所取代。     

革命局辨析

据苏俄、共产国际的有关档案记载。1920—1921年间在上海和中国其他几个大城市曾出现过“革命局”(ревбюоро)。对于“革命局”究竟是什么组织。目前已有几位党史学者发表了不同的意见,分别视其为:中共上海发起组及各地共产主义小组、社会主义者同盟的领导机构、具有统一战线性质的机构和俄共在华组织。这几种看法均值得商榷。从档案原文和“革命局”的名称、组织系统、自身结构与功能任务等方面来看,1920年夏成立于上海的“革命局”实际上是直属共产国际东亚书记处的具体负责中国共产主义运动的机构,而在其他城市的“革命局”则是设于上海的“中央局”的分支机构。虽然革命局后来的隶属关系、组织机构有所变化,但其作为共产国际的在华一级机关的性质却始终如一,在指导建立共产党、推动各革命团体的活动、实施共产主义宣传等工作上发挥了重要作用。随其主要使命的基本完成和中共的成立,革命局也归于消失。     

1924-1945年国民党海外部与侨务工作考论

针对目前学术界在民国侨务政策、侨务工作方面的研究对象主要是侨委会,对于海外部仅粗略涉及的现状,依据相关档案及其它文献资料,对国民党海外部的沿革、职能、其侨务工作实绩及与侨务委员会之间的关系等方面做了分析和阐述。认为国民政府的侨务委员会与国民党海外党部从党政两个权力系统推展侨务工作,二者分工合作,相辅相成。抗战前,以侨委会为主;抗战爆发后,特别是太平洋战事发生以及日本推行南进政策后,以海外党部为代表的党务系统在侨务工作中发挥了更大的作用。     

Seeking evidence: The 1984 visit to Nanjing by a Japanese investigative team and its significance

ABSTRACT

In December 1984, a private Japanese academic organization, the “Nanjing Incident Research Committee” (Nankin Jiken Chōsa Kenkyūkai), sent a survey team to visit Nanjing, with the aim of obtaining more evidence on the Nanjing Massacre to counter the internal debate within Japan. Through the coordination by the “Office of the Leading Team on History, Museums and Monuments for the Nanjing Massacre” during the visit, the survey team was able not only to gather historical materials, meet with survivors, and tour historical sites, but also to engage in exchanges with Nanjing researchers and students of Nanjing University. This visit to Nanjing further publicized Japan’s internal debate on the Nanjing Massacre in China, while also representing an unprecedented effort for collaboration between China and Japan in research on the Nanjing Massacre.     

重评共产国际指导中国大革命的路线

中国大革命是在联共政治局和共产国际直接指导下进行的。在此期间 ,联共政治局会议专门讨论中国革命问题 1 2 2次 ,做出了 73 8个决定。指导中国大革命的基本路线和方针、政策 ,几乎全部来自莫斯科 ,并且由莫斯科派驻中国的代表、顾问亲自执行 ;只有一小部分是在他们的代表严密监督下由陈独秀为首的中共中央执行。 1 92 3— 1 92 5年 ,莫斯科提出的路线基本上是正确的 ;1 92 5年秋开始发生右倾化的转变 ,最后导致了大革命的失败。