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C.O. 418
[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government
OPIUM.
REC [NoveertC 13
CONFIDENTIAL.
[52947]
No. 1.
SECTION 1.
(No. 418.) Sir,
Mr Alston to Sir Edward Grey.—(Received November 22.)
Peking, November 8, 1913. I HAVE the honour to forward herewith copy of a note addressed to the Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs conveying the instructions contained in your despatch No. 287 of the 29th September on the subject of the request of the Chinese Government for the revision of the Opium Agreement of the 8th May, 1911
The Minister of Foreign Affairs informed Mr. Wilton, in conversation on the 5th November, that my note to him was under consideration by the Cabinet.
Enclosure in No. 1.
I have, &c.
B. ALSTON.
Sir,
Mr. Alston to Wai-chiao Pu.
Peking, November 3, 1913. ON the 7th May last the Wai-chiao Pu addressed a memorandum to His Majesty's Minister requesting him to move His Majesty's Government to consent to the revision of the Opium Agreement of 1911. This request was telegraphed, and a copy of the memorandum duly forwarded to His Majesty's Foreign Office, and I am now in receipt of the views of His Majesty's Government on the subject.
I am instructed to remind your Excellency of the arrangement proposed by your predecessor on the 30th January that, in return for an undertaking from His Majesty's Government to permit the export of no more opium to China, the Chinese Government should itself take over the stocks accumulated at Shanghai and Hong Kong, and establish an opium monopoly aiming at gradual suppression. In their desire to assist China in her task of opium suppression, His Majesty's Government consented to the arrangement subject to certain conditions, and the import of Indian opium has since ceased. But on the 1st July the Chinese Government withdrew their offer to purchase the stocks, and gradually increased their demands until they now ask for the reshipment of the stocks to non-China markets, offering only to pay the freight.
This attitude indicates so complete a repudiation of the obligations of the Chinese Government that grave doubts are entertained by His Majesty's Government as to their intentions.
The stocks of Indian opium at Shanghai and elsewhere have accumulated during the currency of agreements which were highly favourable to, and were accepted by, the Chinese Government, and the present situation is the direct result of restrictions which China, in flagrant violation and open defiance of agreements, has imposed on a lawful trade. A fresh instance of this has recently occurred in the province of Fukien, where not only has Indian opium, duly conveyed under the usual Customs certificates, been seized and detained inland, but compulsory re-export also ordered, as set forth in my memoranda of the 19th August, the 23rd and 24th September, and the 15th and 16th October. I would take this opportunity of observing that the high-handed and illegal action of the Anti-Opium Bureau at Foochow, unless disavowed by the Central Government, can only lead His Majesty's Government to doubt the protesta- tions of friendly feeling recently made.
In my memorandum of the 13th September, I drew the attention of the Wai-chiao Pu to the fact that it was reported that, in certain of the provinces which had been closed to Indian opium, there had been a recrudescence of poppy cultivation, and I am now instructed to address strong representations on this subject to the Chinese Government. It is to be hoped that a similar condition of affairs may not also be reported next season from the provinces placed on the prohibition list on the 15th June of this year.
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