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We proceeded northwards, and surveyed as far as the boundary of Li Chiang territory; we thence returned to Tengyueh on account of the heavy rains which had commenced.
The Upper Salween country is of great importance to West Yunnan, and though it has not yet been opened up it will in future naturally fall within the sphere of Yunnan control. Burmab will raise no objection to this; but the upper waters of the Irrawaddy are of the utmost importance to Burmah, and though the country has not yet been been developed it must ultimately belong to Burmah.
To sum up, commencing from the source of the Ming Kwang River, and thence proceeding straight up to the crest of the Kao Li Kung snow range, and then proceeding north along this crest to Thibet, all country which is in the basins of the Shweli or the Salveen should belong to Yunnan, and all country which is in the basin of the Irrawaddy should belong to Burmah. According to this division, all the Lisu aud Lu Tzu of the Salween will be in Yunnan, and all the Kachins and Marus will be in Burmah, and there will be a definite boundary in the shape of a great snow-clad range.
As for the presents and tolls now taken from the Kachins by the Teng Keng and other Chinese Headmen, the Government of Burmah is willing to make liberal com- pensation so as to avoid the least loss falling upon your Fu Yi; but not only is my Government unable at the present moment to recognize any of the country on the west of the watershed as Chinese territory, but they cannot contemplate that in the future any part of it can be assigned to Yünnan. I will now proceed to explain to your Honour the reasons for this, which I hope you will take into consideration:-
1. At present none of the villages in the Ngaw Chang basin are in point of fact controlled by your Fu Yi. I think that your Honour is very well aware of the feeble and vicious character of these Fu Yi; but the Government of Burmah already controls the Shi Ngaw and Tun Maw Valleys. The inhabitants are of the same tribe as those of the Ngaw Chang, and will therefore easily be brought under control.
2. As the Fu Yi are unable to control this tract, still less will the Chinese officials of Tengyueh be able to control it, in view of the distance, the mountains, and the difficulty of procuring supplies. Thus, the Burmab Government would have to establish military posts all along their frontier. This could not be done under an annual cost of several tous of thousands of taels. If posts are not established, then Burmab will
constantly be suffering damage, as may be seen from what has happened in Meng Mao and Meng Wan (Bhamo frontier).
It follows the crest
The boundary which I bave now suggested is the natural one. of high ranges, and, while assigning all the Kachin villages to Burmah, assigns all the Chinese-inhabited villages to China; it gives all the Upper Salween and Upper Shweli to China, and all the Irrawaddy to Burmah; further, both sides of the watershed are uninhabited, and covered with dense forest for a distance of over 10 i from the crest, and this divide has always been regarded by the local people as a frontier. Thus, the line suggested is not only in accordance with the geography of the place, but is suitable as an ethnographical frontier.
4. On the west of the divide the whole country consists of a complicated mass of eliffs and numerous rivers; in fact, no frontier can be found except the watershed. If this is not accepted, serious calamities will supervene along the border.
5. The "Tengyueh Gazetteer" gives the three "ai" or narrow passes (Ming Kwang, Ta Tang, Tien Tan) as the frontier; the "Yung Chang Gazetteer" gives the Kachin Hills as the frontier; the official general map of Yunnan gives the watershed as the frontier; last year the Chinese Foreign Office, in a despatch addressed to His Majesty's Minister, declared that, after repeated inquiries, no such river as the N'Maikha could be found. These points clearly show how the matter really stands.
6. The country to the west of the watershed is quite valueless to China, but on account of its geographical situation is of much importance to Burmah. If it is not assigned to Burmah, the control of a large stretch of country will be rendered difficult to that Government,
These are the reasons why the watershed forms the most suitable frontier. When the frontier between Meng Mao and Bhamo was being delimited it was found that a district known as the triangle, and nominally under the Meng Mao jurisdiction, was inhabited by Kachins addicted to raiding. Its possession by Meng Mao was useless to Meug Mao and injurious to Burmah. It was therefore agreed that the district should be placed under the jurisdiction of Burmah, and that Burmah should pay 1,000 rupees per annum as compensation; thus Meng Mao receives a larger
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revenue than formerly, and the country has been reduced to peace and order, to the mutual benefit of both parties.
In the present instance, as loss might be incurred by the Chinese Headmen, the two Governments might act in accordance with the precedent of the Meng Mao triangle, and a perpetual lease might be granted to Burmab. The rent would be paid over to the Chinese officials for distribution at their discretion among their various Headmen, the proportions in which the money would be distributed being no concern of the Government of Burmah.
Burmah would willingly pay this sum by way of compensation, and would on no account permit any loss to fall upon your Headmeu.
We have made the joint inquiry into the frontier according to our instructions, but as we have no authority to delimit I would request your Honour now to report to your Government, while I will submit to His Majesty's Minister a report in terms similar to this despatch. We must then await further orders from our Governments, on the receipt of which we can proceed to an amicable settlement. Any slight differences of opinion which we may have will, I think, be easily settled by negotiation.
(Confidential.)
Inclosure 12 in No. 1.
Government of Burmah to Government of India.
Maymyo, June 24, 1905. IN continuation of my letter dated the 19th June, 1905, I am directed to submit, for the information of the Government of India, copies of papers which relate to the frontier between Burmah and Yunnan, north of Manangpum.
2. The papers show that Mr. Litton has made a definite claim to fix the Irrawaddy-Salween watershed as the boundary up to the confines of Thibet. In my letter above cited the Lieutenant-Governor has shown cause for not pressing our claims to a fixed boundary higher than latitude 20° 30′ and for not basing any argument on tribal distribution. If, however, the Chinese Government can be brought to agree to the watershed as a froutier up to the confines of Thibet on payment of a fixed
Sir Herbert White sees sun,
no objection. His Honour would, however, deprecate any precise statement as to where China ends and Thibet begins, and would also prefer not to agree to pay rent or compensation to an amount to be fixed by subsequent inquiry.
3. Sir Herbert White concurs in Mr. Litton's suggestion that the Imperial and Provincial Governments of China and Yunnan should be clearly made to understand that the British Government is determined to have the watershed frontier, and that, if China is not willing to forego shadowy claims in return for a cash payment, the Govern- ment of Burmah will be instructed to occupy and administer the country without further negotiation. For reasons stated by Mr. Litton in his letter dated the 7th June to Sir E. Satow, it appears likely that this argument will exercise considerable influence upon the Government of Yunnan.
I am to submit a copy of Mr. Litton's map with the boundary suggested by Taotai Shih and that suggested by Mr. Litton, marked with red and blue lines respectively. The Ngaw Chang would be a very bad boundary, as there are villages on both sides near to each other, and there might be frequent disputes. The boundary suggested by Mr. Litton is clearly the most suitable in every respect.
(Confidential.)
Inclosure 13 in No. 1.
Acting Consul Litton to Government of Burmah.
Sir,
Tengyueh, June 8, 1905. IN continuation of my Report on the joint examination of the northern undelimited frontier, I have the honour to transmit a copy of a despatch which
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