2.
232
C.O 26818
Frais Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
CHINA RAILWAYS.
2
CONFIDENTIAL.
[26157)
....
No. 1.
RECP TO AUG
[July 12.]
SECTION 3.
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received July 12.)
(No. 191.)
Peking, May 24, 1909. Sir,
WITH reference to my despatch No. 569 of the 21st December last, I have the honour to transmit herewith copy of an illustrated pamphlet, which has recently been issued by the South Manchurian Railway Company, on the subject of the Fushun Colliery.
As I had occasion to observe in that part of my last general report which dealt with the relations of China with Japan, the possession of this colliery was one of the The mizes were taken over by issues arising out of the late struggle in the Far East. the Russians during the war, and were claimed by the Japanese as part of the property accruing to them under article 6 of the Treaty of Portsmouth as confirmed by article 1 of the agreement between China and Japan of the 22nd December, 1905. The claim is contested by the Chinese on the ground that the mines were private property, which should have been restored to them in accordance with the terms of article 4 of that agreement, but, as I stated in the above-mentioned report, the development of the colliery under Japanese management precludes the possibility of its restoration to China.
The pamphlet and the guide to the South Manchurian Railway, copy of which 1 have also the honour to enclose, show the magnitude of the material interests which How far the development of these Japan has acquired in Southern Manchuria. interests is compatible with the maintenance of the sovereign rights which Chiua asserts with so much insistence is a problem which is likely to canse much friction between the two great Empires in the East for many years to come.
In Manchuria the Japanese are confronted with a far more vigorous race than they have met with in the Coreans on the other side of the frontier, and, apart from the economic struggle, their political difficulties are likely to be greater in Manchuria than they were in Corca. But that the object of Japan is to consolidate her interests alike in both countries can scarcely admit of any reasonable doubt.
I have, &c.
}
* Not printed.
[2336 m-3]
J. N. JORDAN.