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authorities, in whose hands the matter lies, has not in the past been such as to justify any confidence on the part of foreign Powers that the stipulations of that Article, supposing it to have been accepted by them all, would be honestly and faithfully performed by China. Her behaviour in regard to the provisions of the Treaty of Tien-tsin in this respect, of which my predecessors and I have had so uninterruptedly to complain, forbids the belief that she will reform her ways, and cease henceforth to evade her most explicit engagements.
The most recent instance of an attempt to evade the Regulations in regard to li-kin has occurred at Hankow, the details of which are reported in my despatch No. 377 of the 11th instant, but it is sufficient for the present purpose to state that the Taotai maintained that li-kin becomes chargeable from the moment imports pass from the possession of the foreign merchant into that of a Chinese purchaser, or leave a foreign Settlement for the adjacent city. In asserting this view it has frequently been found that Chinese officials ground themselves on the unfortunate promise given in section 3 of the Chefoo Convention to move the British Government to allow the ground rented by foreigners (the so-called concessions) at the different ports to be regarded as the area of exemption from li-kin. Had this been ratified by Her Majesty's Government, the practical effect would have been to convert the 5 per cent. import duties into 7 per cent. at least, supposing that in all cases transit passes were taken out to cover the goods. And, notwithstanding the fact that this Convention remained unratified till 1886, and that then, by the additional Article of 1885, the question was reserved for further consideration between the two Governments, Chinese officials have over and over again treated the promise in question as a definite Agreement on the part of Great Britain, and it has been repeatedly necessary to remind the Chinese Government that it is not, and never has been, binding on us.
I am reluctantly compelled, therefore, to come to the conclusion that the China of to-day is no more likely than the China of the past sixty years to adhere faithfully to her obligations, and consequently to admit that the proposed Article in the German draft Treaty constitutes a necessary safeguard against the danger of an enhanced Customs Tariff, without any corresponding relief from the internal taxation which weighs so heavily upon foreign commerce.
I have, &c.
(Signed)
ERNEST SATOW.
Office or Individual,
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1906
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