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(This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
OHINA RAILWAYS.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[31458]
C.O
9354
[August 17.]
SECTION 2.
2 SEP 09
No. 1.
Question asked in the House of Commons, August 17, 1909.
Earl Winterton,-To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; (i) whether he has received complaints as to the manner in which the tenders for the Tientsin- Pukow Railway are being manipulated; (ii) whether, in the case of tenders opened on the 17th June for the twenty-one engines required by the Chekiang Railway, the Railway Company handed all the tenders over to one of the tenderers to open and adjudicate upon; (ii) whether he is aware that on the northern section of the Tientsin-Pukow Railway, which is under German domination, none but German tenders are considered, whereas on the southern section, which is supposedly under British domination, tenders are thrown open to the world; (iv) whether, as a protest against the discrimination exercised and the apathy displayed by the British Legation at Peking, the acting General of the British and Chinese Corporation, through whom all the existing railway loans. have been raised, resigned during the week of 18th June; and (v) whether, under existing circumstances, he will say what action he proposes to take in the interests of British manufacturers in China.
Answer.
The answer to the first part of the question is in the negative. As regards the third part, we have no reason to believe that article 18 of the Tientsin-Pukow Railway Agreement has not been fairly carried out. That article is to the effect that German- Asiatic Bank and the Chinese Central Railways shall act as agents of the railway administration during construction for the purchase of all materials, &c., from abroad; and that at equal rates and qualities goods of German and British manufacture shall be given preference over other goods of foreign origin for the northern and southern sections respectively. The answer to the second part of the question is in the affirmative, but the Railway Bureau ultimately decided to reject all the tenders and to purchase nothing. The irregularity in procedure referred to has already been the subject of representation. As to the last two parts of the question, the resigna- tion of the agent-general of the British and Chinese Corporation is a matter which concerns the corporation alone. We have received no complaints from them, nor have we any reason to suppose that they consider that His Majesty's Minister at Peking has in any way neglected their interests in the Far East. I do not know of any case where Sir John Jordan has failed to display a zealous watchfulness over British interests, and any charge of this kind against the British Legation is entirely unfounded and unjust. I know no more strenuous and loyal public servant than Sir John Jordan, and I take full responsiblity for his action. In any case which arises I am prepared to give full support to well-founded British claims, if it is required.
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