发生在中国人民解放军渡江前夕的“紫石英”号事件 ,可被视为英国炮舰外交在中国的彻底终结。但是 ,这一事件却未必是炮舰外交的产物。英国此时既无在中国推行炮舰外交的实力 ,也无推行炮舰外交的故意。事件发生后 ,经过数日的观察分析 ,中英双方都得出了这是一个偶然事件的正确判断。尽管如此 ,双方的谈判却历尽艰难。一开始双方在谈判级别和谈判内容上便分歧严重 ,纠缠了很长时间。究其原因 ,要害乃在于英方是否准备对事件做出道歉。 6月下旬 ,中共做出一定让步 ,谈判出现一丝曙光 ,但这一曙光转瞬即逝。尽管英方曾为谈判解决事件继续做出一些努力和尝试 ,但由于它拒绝认错 ,谈判再次陷入僵局。无奈之中 ,英国人选择了乘黑夜逃遁的下策。以往的研究中存在一些史实讹误 ,需加以订正。从史料来看 ,英国政府绝无在谈判中正式认错道歉的可能 ,英舰的逃跑倒是为僵持不下的谈判做出了另类的了结 The “Amethyst” incident that took place on the eve of the crossing of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) can be seen as the complete end to the British gunboat diplomacy in China. However, this incident may not necessarily be the product of gunboat diplomacy. At this moment, the United Kingdom has neither the strength of gunboat diplomacy nor the intention of launching gunboat diplomacy in China. After the incident, after several days of observation and analysis, both China and Britain have come to the conclusion that this is the correct judgment of an accident. Despite this, the negotiations between the two sides have gone through difficult times. At the very beginning, the two sides were divided on the level of negotiations and the contents of the negotiations, and they were entangled for a long time. The crux of the reason lies in whether the British side is ready to apologize for the incident. In late June, the Chinese Communists made some concessions and a glimmer of hope emerged from the negotiations, but this dawn is a fleeting one. Although Britain has continued to make some efforts and attempts to negotiate and resolve the incident, the negotiations once again stalled because of its refusal to admit its mistake. In desperation, the British chose to take the best way to escape the dark night. There are some historical facts and corrupts in previous studies that need to be revised. From the historical point of view, the British government has absolutely no possibility of formally admitting the possibility of an apology in the negotiations. The escape of the British ships has made an alternative conclusion to the stalemate