[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
CHINA TRADE.
CONFIDENTIAL.
No. 1.
[June 29.]
SECTION 1.
Sir M. Gosselin to the Marquess of Lansdowne.-(Received June 29.)
(No. 79. Very Confidential.) My Lord,
Lisbon, June 12, 1903.
WITH reference to my despatch No. 48 of the 20th April last, inclosing copies of the Portuguese White Book, on the subject of Senhor de Azevedo Castello Branco's negotiations with China, I have the honour to report that the Treaty of the 15th October last came up for discussion in the Chamber of Deputies on the 27th ultimo.
Senhor Dias Costa, on behalf of the Progressist opposition, asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs for information on the following points:--
Question 1-How do the Portuguese Government interpret Article III of the Treaty of the 15th October? Does it imply that a Chinese custom-house can be established in the territory of the Province of Macau?
Answer. The Portuguese Government hold that by this Article no custom-house or delegation of the Imperial Chinese Customs can be established in Macau territory.
Question 2.--Has the Portuguese Government still a free hand with regard to adhering or not to the Final Protocol of the 7th September, 1901?
Answer. By Article II of the Treaty, Portugal agrees to the increase in the import Tariff duties stipulated for in the Protocol of the 7th September, 1901; it is clear, however, that the Treaty has no effect until ratified, and that until this is done the Government have complete liberty of action in the matter.
Question 3.-Does China apply, in violation of the Treaty of 1887, the new Customs Tariff to Macau merchandise without protest by the Portuguese Government?
Answer. The Minister replied that if the Deputy would read the White Book he would find there an answer to his question.
(On page 40 of the White Book, Senhor Azevedo, in his explanatory despatch to Senhor Mattoso Santos, written on the 20th December, after his return to Lisbon, points out that Portuguese goods ought not to be subjected to the higher Tariff until Portugal had adhered to the Protocol of the 7th September, 1901; but that, as a matter of fact, "as early as October 1901, China, to the manifest prejudice of our rights, and with the consent of the Powers, began to levy duties according to the new Tariffs without troubling herself as to the arbitrary nature of this proceeding.")
Question 4.-Have the Government consented to any alteration in the customs duties on opium, as laid down in the Treaty of 1887?
Answer.-No change has been made.
Question 5.-During the absence of the Portuguese Minister from Peking, have negotiations been completely suspended?
Answer.--The Minister replied in the affirmative.
After a short and somewhat desultory discussion, a Resolution in the following terms was carried by the Government majority in the Lower Chamber :--
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The Chamber, approving the declarations of the Government, and in accord with them, resolves to suspend the discussion of this Treaty, in order that its meaning may be made clear between the two High Contracting Parties, so as to avoid doubts as to its execution, and trusts that the patriotism and forethought of the Government and of their Representative at the Court of Peking will bring the negotiations to a satisfactory conclusion."
I called this morning on Senhor de Azevedo Castello Branco, and asked him to be good enough to explain the intentions of the Government with regard to his Treaty, as it seemed to me that the action taken by the Chamber, suspending all discussion of the subject, almost amounted to a rejection of the Treaty.
Senhor Azevedo entered at great length into the difficulties with which he had to contend on his arrival at Peking, he had signed the Treaty faute de mieux, but no one was more alive than himself to the unsatisfactory nature of some of the clauses; the arrangement as to the Customs had been misunderstood; it was of undoubted advantage that Macau should become a free port, open to the coasting trade; but an outcry had been raised here as to Article III, according to which a delegation of the Chinese Imperial Customs was to be established "dans un local choisi d'accord entre le Gouvernement de la
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