CO537-3711 — Page 94

CONFIDENTIAL

(7280)

COPY

Lo Feng Luh to the Marquess of Salisbury.

(Received October 18)

{

No. 38

My Lord,

Chinese Legation, October 17

1899.

REFERRING to your Lordship's letter of the 30th May, I have the honour to inform you that I did not fail to acquaint the Tsung-li Yamen by telegraph of the decision of Her Majesty's Government to provisionally continue the British occupation of the Chinese town of damchun, and reserve for future consideration the question of the

· permanent arrangements which would have to be made respecting it.

I have just received a telegram from the Tsung-li Yamen, informing me that shortly after receiving the above-mentioned communication, Her Majesty's Charge d'Affaires in weking called at the Yamen and stated that he had been authorised by your Lordship to say that Her Majesty's Government would be prepared to evacuate, and restore to China, the town of Jamchun on two conditions, viz.:

1. That the inatalents then due to the Hong Kong and Shanghae Banking Corporation for interest on the Shan-hai-kwan Railway Loan should be promptly paid.

2. That Tan Tzu-cheng, the fugitive criminal accused of having been the principal instigator of the murder of Mr. Fleming, should be arrested and brought to justice.

In a

Now, these two conditions have been fulfilled. despatch which the Yamen has addressed to the British Chargé d'Affaires, the Yamen requested him to inform your Lordship that Tan Tzu-cheng had been arrested in the Province of Hunan, and that the money which had been owing to the bondholders of the Shan-hai-kwan nailway Loan had been duly paid. Further, Mr. Bax-Ironside was to request your Lordship to have the goodness to cause the Governor of Hong Kong to be directed to order the evacuation of the town of Samchun, and to permit the Chinese authorities to resume the government of the city of Kowlung, conformably with the Convention of the 9th June, 1898, which stipulates that the intra-aural jurisdiction of the place is reserved to China.

The Yamen, having received no answer to the above requests, have desired me to call the attention of your Lordship to the matter, and at the sume time express the hope that, as the Convention for the extension of the boundaries of the Colony of Hong Kong was agreed to as a special mark of China's friendship for Great Britain, and as the two conditions which your Lordship imposed for the retrocession of the town of samchun have been fulfilled, arrangements may be made for the restoration of that place to China at an early date, also for the Chinese authorities being enabled to resume the government of the city of Kowlung.

I have, etc. (Gigned)

3.

LO FENO LUH.