Salt Import-Export in Northeast Asia During the Late Qing Dynasty and Early Republic of China Period—Also on the Operational Logic of Modern China's Foreign-Related Salt Policy
Under the traditional logic of salt administration,the private import and export of table salt have always been prohibited.Since the late Qing Dynasty,there have been several foreign-related salt issues in the Northeast Asia,triggering a number of Sino-foreign negotiations and prompting the salt authorities to adopt varying strategies for import and export management.The export of table salt has various benefits such as maintaining the livelihood of merchants,expanding local products market,and maintaining relations with vassal states without directly undermining domestic salt policies.As a result,it was tacitly permitted to exploit loopholes in the system to allow the export of salt.Conversely,the import of table salt still posed a structural threat to the domestic salt administration system,warranting strict prohibition.The differences in import and export management demonstrate that the government's actual attitude towards foreign salt administration mainly depended on the administrative security of the domestic monopoly system,while not excluding necessary exchanges in the foreign market.This reflects the deep-seated and stable continuation of the traditional salt administration logic in both domestic and foreign aspects since modern times.
import-export of table saltforeign-related salt administrationoperational logicmodern salt industryNortheast Asia
NETL
NSTL
万方数据
