This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government,
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CHINA TRADE.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[9690]
No. 1.
7 APR CS [March 21].
SECTION 1.
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received March 21.)
(No. 60.)
Peking, February 3, 1908.
Sir,
WITH reference to my despatch No. 23 of the 8th January last, in confirmation of my telegram No. 26 of the 27th ultimo, I have the honour to transmit to you a copy of a Memorandum which I have received from the Wai-wu Pu on the 24th January, in which the Chinese Government at length, after considerable hesitation, signify their willingness to accept the proposal of the Indian Government to decrease the total annual export of Indian Opium, taken on the basis of 51,000 chests, by 5,100 chests per annum, to commence from 1908.
The Board at the same time renew their expression of gratitude for the assistance afforded to China by His Majesty's Government.
Prior to this I had received on the 10th January a Memorandum, copy of which I have the honour to inclose, in reply to my Memorandum, forming inclosure in my despatch No. 23 of the 8th January, in which, while admitting the greater feasibility from the point of view of convenience of the Indian plan, the Chinese Government betray a complete misunderstanding of the whole question by reiterating their previously expressed view that the annual reduction should be based upon the total import of 42,320 chests, on the erroneous assumption that an export of 51,000 chests from India would necessarily mean a corresponding increase by 8,680 chests, the difference between 42,320 and 51,000 of the annual import into China, As a compromise, they were willing to halve the difference, and they therefore requested that the annual decrease should be 4,660 chests, based upon a fictitious average of 46,660 chests formed by the addition of 4,340 chests to the annual import of 42,320 chests shewn in the Customs Returns.
In a Memorandum of the 17th January I pointed out the advantages of the Indian scheme over the plan proposed by the Chinese Government, and eventually, on the 24th ultimo I received the Memorandum referred to in my telegram No. 26, in which the Chinese Government at length accepted the Indian proposal without any modification.
I have, &c.
(Signed)
J. N. JORDAN,
Inclosure 1 in No. 1.
Memorandum communicated by Wai-wu Pu to Sir J. Jordan, January 24, 1908.
(Translation.)
THE Board have had under earnest consideration Sir John Jordan's Memorandum of the 17th instant on the subject of the measures to be taken for the restriction of opium, stating that in Sir John Jordan's opinion the limitation of the total export of Indian opium to all countries would be the more advantageous to China, and asking the Board to reconsider the matter before coming to a final decision.
The Board have come to the conclusion that the direct restriction by China herself of the import into the Treaty ports would be impracticable, and they fully recognize that the proposal of His Majesty's Government, taking as a basis the total export of Indian opium to all countries, to decrease the amount annually is the result of an earnest desire on the part of His Majesty's Government to suppress the use of opium. The Board have the honour therefore to request that the total export of Indian opium, taken on the basis of 51,000 chests, may be decreased annually by 5,100 chests, thus effecting the total abolition of the trade in ten years from 1908.
The Board have also the honour to request Sir John Jordan to convey to His Majesty's Government the expression of their deep gratitude.
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