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C 378
[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's over 6486
AFFAIRS OF CHINA.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[46668]
No. 1.
RECR [DecembRE 4 MAR 10,
SECTION 2.
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.--(Received December 24.)
(No. 203.) (Telegraphic.) P. MACAO.
Peking, December 24, 1909.
I had an interview to-day with Na-tung, and handed to him a written communi- cation on behalf of His Majesty's Government in the sense of your telegram No. 199 of the 16th instant,
His Excellency perused the message with great care and expressed himself fully aware of the obligations imposed on us by our treaty engagements to Portugal, These engagements, he well understood, compelled us to take a friendly interest in the question.
He proceeded to explain that, in rejecting the Portuguese request, the Chinese Government had not the intention of refusing to consider a proposal for some friendly form of mediation, but were merely expressing their opinion that The Hague tribunal was not a suitable court of urbitration in this particular case.
I asked him for a more definite statement, adding that I should be glad to communicate to His Majesty's Government any alternative proposal he might have to offer. This, be said, he could not do, and begged me to wait until he had discussed the question with Prince Ching.
With regard to the Portuguese apprehensions of Chinese attacks on Macao, His Excellency assured me that the authorities at Canton had the strictest instructions to ubstain from any provocative action.
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