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[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government
CHINA TRADE.
CONFIDENTIAL.
REC'D 14 MAR 08: [February 8]
SECTION 2.
[4363]
No. 1.
(No. 593.) Sir,
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received February 8, 1908.)
Peking, December 24, 1907.
I HAVE the honour to transmit to you herewith copy of a despatch from the Acting British Vice-Consul at Antung, which gives an impartial and well-considered account of Japanese transactions in land at that port.
The Japanese hold altogether some 2,000 acres of land at Antung, the bulk of which was acquired by forced sales. The methods pursued at Antung bear a close resemblance to those which were practised at an earlier stage in Corea, and can scarcely be justified on ordinary principles of honesty and fair dealing.
On the other hand, it is evident that the Japanese case has, as Mr. Russell observes, been put in a worse light than it really deserves by prejudiced observers, and it must be remembered that at Harbin and other places in North Manchuria the Russians also acquired large tracts for railway purposes, to the retention of which the Chinese are understood to be equally opposed.
I am sending a copy of this despatch and its inclosure to His Majesty's Ambassador at Tokio.
I have, &c. (Signed)
J. N. JORDAN.
Inclosure 1 in No. 1.
Memorandum by Mr. Russell respecting Japanese Land Tenure at Antung.
(Confidential.)
Introductory.
AS the question of Japanese land tenure at Antung is being keenly canvassed by Chinese and Japanese, and also by the foreigners resident at Antung, it may not be without interest to consider the evidence drawn from various sources as to how the Japanese acquired the land they now hold, and to draw therefrom certain conclusions as to the light in which Japanese actions should properly be viewed.
The story of Japanese transactions in land at this port may be taken as commencing from about the date of the signing of the Treaty of Portsmouth in the autumn of 1905.
The principal sources of evidence available are on the one side obtained from conversations which I have had with the Chinese official at Antung on the subject, especially the Taotai, Mr. Chin Ti-tiao, and Mr. Chu Ti-tiao and Mr. Huang, the Chief of Police, and from a document, of which I inclose copy, containing a translation of a Petition addressed by a Mr. Wang Lien Tung to the Commissioner of Customs, Mr. Palen, which the latter has courteously given me. Mr. Wang Lien Tung was a landowner whose land the Japanese acquired, and therefore his statements must naturally be taken as ex parte, as also those of the Chinese officials, who are inclined to state the case in a way unfavourable to the Japanese.
There is, secondly, the Japanese account of the matter, as I have heard it from the lips of Mr. Miho, the Acting Japanese Vice-Consul.
Further, there is the evidence of the foreigners resident in Antung.
In the first place, the Commissioner of Customs, Mr. Palen, has taken considerable pains in collecting facts, and he in the main corroborates the Chinese view of the case, in which he is also supported by the American Vice-Consul, Mr. Arnell. American view of the case is, however, in my opinion, strongly tinged by a pronounced anti-Japanese view of things.
Lastly, I have obtained certain information from members of the Danish Lutheran Mission, which latter may be regarded as unbiassed.
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