People · Shanghai daotai, Taiwan governor
Shao Youlian
邵友濂Shào Yǒulián · d. 1901
Qing official, Shanghai daotai from 1882, who arranged the Russian flag over the French Concession during the Sino-French War of 1884–85.
Shao Youlian (邵友濂, Shào Yǒulián) was a Qing diplomat and administrator who served as Shanghai daotai from 1882. His term coincided with the Sino-French War, and the settlements’ wartime status is what he is remembered for in Shanghai.
When the court ordered the river mouth at Wusong closed, the foreign consuls objected on commercial grounds, and the passage left open was set at 18 zhang. In early 1885, with the French minister gone, Shao asked the Russian consul to take over the French Concession, and the Russian flag replaced the French one until the fighting ended. The gazetteer notes that under international custom China could have reclaimed the concession in wartime, and that the court did not. During the same months the Municipal Council hired Indian police to patrol the road areas outside the settlement, which Shao did not oppose.
He afterwards held posts in Taiwan and Hunan, and in 1895 was sent to negotiate with Japan.