[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
[B]
CO 23533
CHINA RAILWAYS.
RECS
CONFIDENTIAL.
Roof 18 JU 11
[June 9.]
SECTION 2.
[22314]
No. 1.
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.~(Received June 9.)
(No. 221.) Sir,
Peking, May 22, 1911. IN confirmation of my telegram No. 131 of the 20th May, I have the honour to transmit to you herewith a copy of the Hukuang Imperial Government Railways Final Agreement," which was signed by the Minister of Posts and Communications and the representatives of the four groups on the 20th instant.
The signature of this instrument marks, it is to be hoped, the termination of a long series of negotiations, noted for many vicissitudes and attended with endless complications which at times assume the importance of au international character. During the earlier stage of the question, when we and the French were the only groups concerned, the Chinese reluctance to accept French participation proved a great hindrance to the progress of the negotiations and made our position very difficult.
Later on came the German competition, which was greatly facilitated by French insistence upon impossible conditions and by divided counsels amongst the opposing elements constituting the British group. The representative of the German group, by a sharp piece of practice, ousted all competitors and for a moment held the field as the sole proprietor of the erstwhile British rights in the Canton-Hankow line. Many months were spent in recovering our lest position and in arranging terms for German participation. At last all differences seemed to be finally composed, and a formal agreement was initialled by Chang Chih-tung and the representatives of the British, French, and German groups on the 6th June, 1909.
A few days later the Americans revived the memory of old rights which had long been buried and forgotten and inaugurated their new departure in Chinese policy. The initialled agreement remained in abeyance until means could be found to satisfy American aspirations, and nearly two years have been spent in negotiations to admit American participation and overcome fresh Chinese objections. The result is the present agreement, which, after four years' effort and much controversial discussion, has finally developed into an international arrangement of a very harmonious and promising character. All the carlier difficulties have now disappeared, and if the future course of this undertaking is attended with the good-will and cordial co-operation which have led to the success of the present negotiations, China and the four Powers will have good reason to congratulate themselves.
The agreement provides for the construction of 1,200 miles of railway, divided into three sections of unequal length. The British section, which extends from Wuchang to the borders of Kuangtung, is about 600 miles in length, and will link up the British colony of Hong Kong with Hankow and the Yang-tsze valley, connecting Peking also with the southern provinces of the Empire.
The German section starts from Kuang-shui, a point on the Peking-Hankow Railway, in the province of Hupei, and passes through Hsiang-yang and Ching-men- chou to Ichang, a distance of about 400 miles. In the agreement initialled by Chang-Chi-tung the Germans had also the so-called branch line from Ching-men-chou to Han-yang (Hankow), but this has been abandoned, and for it has been substituted a continuation of the main line from Ichang to Kusichow-fu, in the province of Szechuan. This extension is about 200 miles in length, and the question of the nationality of the engineer for its construction caused considerable divergence of opinion. It has finally and very appropriately, in my opinion, heen allotted to an American engineer-in-chief.
Work is to be commenced within six months from the signature of the agreement at Wuchang, Changsha, Kuangshui, and Ichang, and it is estimated that the construction will be completed within three years, with the exception, however, of the section from Ichang to Kueichow-fu, for which a longer period is to be allowed on account of the engineering difficulties to be encountered.
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