This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.
C.O.
# CHINA TRADE.
**CONFIDENTIAL.**
No. 1.
43490 December
759
SHOPDEC 04
Mr. Choate to the Marquess of Lansdowne.-(Received December 3.)
American Embassy, London, December 2, 1904.
My Lord,
I HAVE the honour to call the attention of your Lordship to the various projects for the improvement of the navigation of the Whangpoo River, in which my Government has taken a profound interest, the question being, in its opinion, of ever-increasing importance for the foreign commerce of Shanghae and of China generally.
Since the signing of the Final Protocol of Peking of the 7th September, 1901, wherein provision was made for this work, which is becoming year by year more urgent, my Government has, on numerous occasions, made earnest representations to that of China with a view to the appointment of representatives on the Conservancy Board as provided for by Annex 17 of the Final Protocol in order that the organization might thus be completed and enabled to begin the work assigned to it by the Agreement of China and the Powers. But our efforts have, unfortunately, not overcome the disinclination of the Chinese Government to make the necessary appointments, nor has my Government even been able to secure the unanimous and active support of all the Diplomatic Representatives at Peking in its efforts to overcome the dilatoriness of the Chinese.
Opposition to the provisions of Annex 17 of the Final Protocol, especially to the additional taxes which it imposed, has furthermore steadily increased among a considerable section of the foreign community of Shanghae, and this, coupled with the persistent opposition to the Conservancy Board of the Chinese Viceroy at Nanking and of the Chinese Maritime Customs, on the ground that the terms of the Protocol seriously infringe Chinese sovereignty, forced on my Government the belief that the scheme as therein provided for must be considerably amended if this vital work is to be undertaken at an early date, or at all.
On the 9th June last, the Chinese Foreign Office addressed a note to the Diplomatic Representatives of the Powers at Peking, asking the repeal of Annex 17 of the Final Protocol of the 7th September, 1901, and expressing the desire to improve the bed of the Whangpoo River under the sole control and at the sole expense of China. With this note was submitted a set of proposals outlining the manner in which it sought to accomplish this end.
The Minister of the United States at Peking, having transmitted the suggestions of the Chinese Government to Washington, was informed that they were objectionable in principle to my Government, if good and sufficient guarantees were given that China would promptly begin the conservancy work, carry it to a satisfactory termination, and maintain it afterwards.
The above reply was duly communicated to the Chinese Foreign Office, and the latter, on the 5th August last, informed the American Minister that the Chinese Government offered as guarantee for the carrying out of the work certain revenues aggregating about 600,000 taels annually. The Foreign Office expressed the hope that this would be accepted by the United States as a sufficient guarantee.
On the 11th August, the American Minister at Peking, under instructions from this Government, addressed a note to the Chinese Foreign Office, in which, after stating the general acceptance by my Government of the proposals of China, he said that the United States, before considering the abrogation of the provisions of the Final Protocol, must insist that China submit detailed plans and a general programme of the way in which it proposed doing the work. It was to be clearly understood, however, that, whereas the United States was willing to waive temporarily its right to insist on China complying with the terms agreed on by her in Article 6 of the Final Protocol concerning the improvement of the course of the Whangpoo River, it would do so only so long as the Chinese Government promptly and satisfactorily discharged the new obligations which it now wished to assume. Should it become evident at a later date that the conservancy work was not being done promptly, or should there be evidence of a disposition not to carry out the work to the satisfaction of all interests concerned, the United States would insist upon full and strict compliance with the terms of the original Agreement.
[2288 c-1]