!
[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
560
Sir,
6
Enclosure 7 in No. 1.
Acting Consul Rose to Liu Yuan-pi.
Tengyueh, February 24, 1910 (H. T. I., 15th of 1st moan).
I HAVE the honour to inform you that I have received a petition from the villagers of Picn-ma and the neighbouring hamlets in the valley of the Upper Hsiao- Chiang River (the Ngawchang Kha), which is in British territory, stating that on or about the 20th of the 9th moon of last year the sawbwa of Tengkeng, with a force of 500 men, made an armed raid across the frontier to Pien-ma, where he burned houses and looted property in five villages, carrying off all their cattle and other possessions; that the raiders are still in occupation of the country; and that the sawbwa had threatened certain other villages in the neighbourhood.
I have, moreover, received information that the deputy commissioner of Myitkyina has examined messengers from the Pien-ma district, and that their statement in regard to the raid corresponds with the facts set forth in the petition presented
to me.
You will, I am sure, understand that the Tengkeng sawbwa, in crossing the frontier with an armed party and in destroying and looting property, has created a serious breach of international courtesy and that the matter cannot be regarded lightly. I have the honour, therefore, to request that you will issue stringent orders to the sawbwa to immediately recall his followers; that you will summon him with all haste to Tengyueh and there inflict on him a punishment consistent with the gravity of his offence; and that you will at the same time take measures to provide adequate compensation to the villagers for the losses which they have incurred.
لا
AFFAIRS OF CHINA.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[April 4.]
SECTION, 12550
REC
[11402]
No. 1.
Mr. Max Müller to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received April 4.)
(REG: 28 PK 10
(No. 84.)
Sir,
Peking, March 18, 1910. IN my despatch No. 71 of the 10th instant I informed you of the fresh incident that had arisen in connection with the Macao boundary question, through the action of the Canton provincial authorities in establishing an office for supervising fishing boats at Wan-chai, on the island of Lappa, immediately opposite Macao I presume that this is the question in regard to which the Portuguese Government have addressed to His Majesty's Government fresh complaints and appeals for support, as reported in your telegrami No. 42 of the 14th March. M. de Brederode mentioned the matter at the Wai-wu Pu on the 8th instant, and requested that the Viceroy might be instructed to furnish an explanation of the incident, and I took the opportunity of an interview with his Excellency Liang Tun-yen, on the 11th instant, to refer to this incident, and to point out the necessity of avoiding any act that might be interpreted as an infraction of the status quo. As usual, his Excellency showed signs of irritation at the mention of Macao, and his reply was to the effect that the office in question was not a new institution; that the Chinese authorities had a perfect right to look after their own fishing boats; and that anyhow Lappa was not Portuguese territory, and therefore the Portuguese had no right to interfere. I replied that though there might be two opinions as to the extent of the territory belonging to Macao, there could not be two opinions as to Wan-chai being situated in the disputed territory, and that if the Chinese authorities had established an office there, whatever its purpose, such an act would be interpreted as an alteration of the status quo.
His Excellency told me that his reply to me was based on a telegram received from the Viceroy of Canton, and of which a copy had been communicated to the Portuguese chargé d'affaires. M. de Brederode subsequently supplied me with a translation of this telegram, copy of which I have the honour to enclose.* It certainly cannot be regarded as either satisfactory or conciliatory.
At this same interview Liang Tun-yen informed me that the Viceroy of Canton had reported that the authorities of Macao had on their side been guilty of infringing the status quo by placing a new buoy for one of their small gun-boats, or rather launches, in the neighbourhood of Green Island, in the Inner Harbour. The complaint, as I told his Excellency, appeared to me so far-fetched and unreasonable that I attached but little importance to it at the time, but a few days later M. de Brederode handed me the enclosed translation of a note which he had received from the Wai-wu Pu,* complaining of the placing of this buoy, and requesting that the governor of Macao should at once be asked to have it removed.
The Portuguese consul at Canton reports that the Viceroy has insisted, in most violent language, ou the removal of the buoy, while the governor of Macao has telegraphed to M. de Brederode that the buoy is situated 250 metres from the north-east corner of Green Island in waters where the Portuguese have always exercised jurisdiction, and well within a boundary line agreed upon by the Viceroy, Li Hung Chang, and the Portuguese consul at Canton on the 22nd July, 1890. He also explained that the buoy was placed there for mooring the launch "Macao" during a typhoon, and with the object of avoiding a possible protest from the Chinese authorities if the launch were forced to go further up the river for shelter.
I have also the honour to enclose a translation of a note which M. de Brederode has. on instructions from his Government, addressed to-day to the Chinese Government M. de Brederode further informs me in reply to their communication of the 15th.* that, in obedience to instructions from the Portuguese Government, he has addressed a further note to the Chinese Government on the subject of the island of Dom Joao, protesting afresh against the violation of the status quo, and requesting the restoration of the boats seized.
I have, &c.
W. G. MAX MÜLLER.
* Not priuted.
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