[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
AFFAIRS OF CHINA..
CONFIDENTIAL.
[41908]
No. 1.
[November 17.]
SECTION 4.
(No. 389.) Sir,
Mr. Mua Müller to Sir Edward Grey-(Received November 17.)
Peking, October 31, 1910.
I HAVE the honour to transmit herewith the copy of a despatch which I have received from the acting British consul at Tengyueh in regard to the unsettled state of affairs in the Chinese Shan State of Changta and the possibility of consequent trouble in the regions bordering on the Burmah frontier.
1 have, &c.
W. G. MAX MÜLLER.
Enclosure in No. 1.
Acting Consul Rose to Mr. Max Müller,
(No. 32. Confidential.) Sir,
Tengyueh vid Bhamo, September 19, 1910. IN my frontier report for the last open season, dated the 3rd March, 1910, I had the honour to submit a short note on the unrest in the Chinese Shan State of Changta (Santa), occasioned by the fact that there are now rival claimants to the Sawbwa-ship. The claim of the boy Hung-sheng, the rightful Sawbwa by Shan custom, was prejudiced by the fact that he was carried to Myitkyina by his mother to escape Chinese persecution, and a delegate named Pi-fa has been in power for some years with the support of the Tengyueh officials. In the autumn of 1909 Hung-sheng returned from Burmab, and for nine months both claimants have resided within the State, the Chinese delegate Pi-fa, however, retaining possession of the official yamen. Whilst disclaiming all desire to intervene in Shan affairs, I explained to the late Taotai Liu the desirability of avoiding all trouble in a State which so closely affected the Burmah-China trade-route and the peace of the frontier, and he assured me last year that Hung-sheng would be unmolested by the Chinese, and his early reinstatement considered if he maintained a correct attitude and made no attempt to stir up rebellion. Disputes, however, were inevitable, and constant friction bas occurred until Hung-sheng has been obliged to flee to the small State of Sansi, a dependency of Changta, and rumours now reach me of impending trouble. The natives of the State clamour for Hung-sheng, their rightful Sawbwa, who still holds the seals of office, though he is deprived of all actual power. The Chinese have made repeated attempts to regain the seal, and two bodies of troops have now been sent to Changta under the pretext of restoring order. Two men from each village have been deputed by the natives to serve as a guard for Hung-sheng, and the movements of Chinese troops are causing great excitement both in Changta and Kangai. The Tengyueh authorities have been endeavouring for some time to gain effective control in these States, and to bring them under direct Chinese administration, and there can be little doubt that the accomplishment of this plan would tend to the peace of the frontier. In the meanwhile, however, trouble is imminent, and I am reporting the facts and forwarding copies of this despatch to the Government of Burmah and to the frontier officers at Bliamo and Myitkyina, in order that they may be on their guard lest the I am informed that local dispute should involve any violation of the frontier. numbers of Shans are cressing the border in view of the insecurity of life and property occasioned by the unrest, and the situation presents a striking similarity to that which has arisen in the southern Shan State of Mongse, recently reported to you in muy despatch No. 31 of the 1st September. The present Tengyueh Taotai is somewhat impulsive, and troops are constantly in motion along the frontier, a fact which tends to excite the people and shakes the confidence of the merchants, who are nervous lest. it should have a prejudicial effect on the trade of the coming season.
I have, &c.
ARCHIBALD ROSE.
[2982 r-4]
494