[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government]
444
C.O.
AFFAIRS OF CHINA.
6761
[February 10.
CONFIDENTIAL.
RECE
SECTION 2.
REC 25 FE 09
[5520]
No. 1.
(No. 36.) Sir,
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey. —(Received February 10.)
Peking, January 19, 1909.
I HAVE the honour to report on the recent developments of the Macao question, which seems to be entering on a serious phase.
The previous correspondence which terminated with my despatch No. 507 of the 8th November, 1908, brought the case up to the point where the Chinese Government definitely furnished their reasons for refusing to accept the three Commissioners appointed by Portugal, and made a formal request for the appointment of fresh Commissioners.
No reply was made to this communication, and the situation remained unchanged until the 28th ultimo, when the Wai-wu Pu addressed a further note to the Portuguese Chargé d'Affaires on the subject.
In this they alleged, on the strength of a telegram received from the Viceroy at Canton, that the Portuguese had been collecting land tax at Ma Liao Ho on the east of the Island of Wang Kum (Montanha), and imprisoning Chinese who refused payment. They also quoted a rumour that Portugal was sending ships of war to Macao, and they deprecated any modification of the existing situation or display of force pending delimitation.
This was followed by another letter on the 7th instant, in which the Board reiterated their request for the appointment of Commissioners to carry out the work of delimitation, and in subsequent correspondence complaints were made of fresh violations of territory. The Portuguese were charged with surveying the land between Colowan and Chin Ao, with forbidding the natives to cut timber thereon, with carrying on dredging operations in disputed waters, and with compelling Chinese subjects to sign documents, the purport of which they did not understand. These and other charges will be found embodied in the correspondence, copies of which I have the honour to transmit herewith.*
On the 10th instant his Excellency Liang Tun-yen came to see me and discussed the question at some length. He enumerated the various acts of which the Chinese Government complained, and conveyed the impression that Portugal would scarcely have sanctioned such aggressive proceedings if she had not been able to rely upon the support of His Majesty's Government. I told him that the Portuguese Chargé d'Affaires, with whom I had been in constant communication, was firmly convinced that the Chinese were making a deliberate attempt to crush his countrymen out of Macao, and that I myself was inclined to believe, from what I knew of their attitude in other matters, that the Canton authorities were, probably without the knowledge of the Imperial Government pursuing a policy of adventure which would sooner or later create a serious situation and oblige us to intervene in fulfilment of our Treaty obligations to Portugal.
Liang Tajen assured me that all the Chinese desired was to have the boundaries of Macao fairly delimited in conformity with the Treaty of 1887. There was no hope, however, of attaining this object if they accepted the Commissioners appointed by Portugal, all three of whom were the moving spirits in the present policy of encroachment.
As an earnest of Chinese good faith in the matter, he said that if Portugal would appoint a Commissioner of high rank independent of all local influence, China would nominate an officer of equal standing and independence, and he asked me to submit At the same time this proposal to you for transmission to the Portuguese Government.
he promised to furnish me with a Memorandum on the subject, which reached me on the following day, and which merely recapitulated the leading facts cited in the previous correspondence.
A copy of this paper is inclosed herewith.†
* Wai-wu Pu to Portuguese Chargé d'Affaires, December 28, 1908, January 7, 8, 9, and 11, 1909.
† Liang Tun-yen, January 11, 1909.
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