[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
2
I have the honour to inform your Excellency that the Shansi Smelting Agreement clearly states that the Chinese Government will themselves find the capital for the establishment of a smelting works in Shansi. At the present time China has no intention of establishing such works in Shansi, and there is no use in entering upon negotiations as to the conditions.
I have therefore the honour to request your Excellency to be good enough to convey the sense of this reply to the Peking Syndicate, and avail, &c.,
Prince Ch'ing and Ministers.
AFFAIRS OF CHINA.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[24034]
www
No. 1.
653
[July 19.]
0.0.
SECTION 1.
29968
RECE
(Confidential.)
Admiralty to Foreign Office.-(Received July 19.)
BEC 21 AUG 07)
Sir,
Admiralty, July 18, 1907. I AM commanded by my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to transmit herewith, for the information of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, a copy of a letter, dated the 4th June, which has been received from the Commander-in-chief on the China Station, respecting his visit to Tsushima, and certain remarks by Marquis Ito respecting the retention of Wei-hai Wei by Great Britain.
(Confidential.) Sir,
I am, &c.
(Signed) W. GRAHAM GREENE.
Inclosure in No. 1.
Vice-Admiral Sir A. Moore to Admiralty.
CF
King Alfred," at Wei-hai Wei, June 4, 1907. WITH reference to my general letter dated to-day I have the honour to make the following further report for their Lordships' information :-
1. During the recent visit of the squadron to Yokohama, I accepted an invitation from Vice-Admiral Sir M. Saito, Minister of Marine, to stay a few days with him, and during my visit he spoke to me about the squadron going to Tsushima, saying there would be no objection, that he hoped we would go there, and that we should see every- thing, but that it would be better not to include that port in my official programme. Accordingly, on our way to Masampo, I put in there with the squadron, arriving at 6 P.M. on the 23rd May and sailing at 1:30 P.M. on the 24th May. Our visit was very interesting, and we received a warm welcome from, and were entertained by, Captain Yeguchi and officers: the Rear-Admiral commanding the port was absent. A report on Tsushima will be forwarded in due course.
2. After the luncheon given me at the Residency at Seoul, to which I have referred in paragraph 9 of my general letter of to-day, his Excellency Marquis Ito alluded to a previous conversation we had in 1906 regarding Wei-hai Wei (vide my submission of the 13th October, 1906), he said that he had given the matter considerable thought since and was more than ever convinced of the necessity for our continuing to occupy that port, but he added that he was only expressing his own opinion, and was not speaking with official authority. Later, when on board the "King Alfred," he alluded again to this subject, and entered into the whole question of the situation in China and of our alliance with Japan. He said that, in his opinion, it was most desirable that nothing should be done which might in any way lessen England's position and influence in the Far East. He spoke with evident feeling, and expressed his satisfaction when I told him that I believed His Majesty's Government had no intention of giving up Wei-hai Wei.
His Excellency remarked that if I thought fit to mention his views in my private letters I could do so, and I am therefore communicating them confidentially to their Lordships, as I think it desirable that they should be made acquainted with the opinion of so distinguished a statesman, I should add that on both occasions this subject was introduced into the conversation by Marquis Ito. I had no intention of alluding to it.
3. Marquis Ito also spoke to me about his work in Corea, and expressed the hope that he would be able to carry out the same policy in Corea as Lord Cromer had done in Egypt, by legislating for the good of the people of the country. I was much struck by his evident sincerity in this direction, but fear his aims are not shared by many of his subordinates.
This, combined with the fact that the Coreans themselves appear to assume a somewhat sullen and suspicious attitude, must render his task a very difficult and up- hill one.
I have, &c. (Signed)
A. W. MOORE.
[2570 t-1]