CO882-(4-5) — Page 686

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :—

C.O. 882

5 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO

388

2. Mr. Chamberlain proposes, with His Lordship's concurrence, to communicate the purport of the Law Officers' opinion to the Governor of Hong Kong, and to inform him that the Chinese Government has no power to grant leases on any portion of the foreshore.

3. With reference to paragraph 4 of the letter from this Department, referred to above, I am to ask whether Lord Salisbury sees any objection to the publication of the map in question, after it has been referred to the Colony for the purpose of verification.

I am, &c.,

C. P. LUCAS.

6551.

SIR,

No. 302.

FOREIGN OFFICE to COLONIAL OFFICE.

(Received February 28, 1900.)

Foreign Office, February 27, 1900. I HAVE laid before the Marquess of Salisbury your letter 4871/1900, of the 23rd instant,* relative to the question of the ownership of the foreshore of Mirs Bay and Deep Bay under the recent Convention with China for the extension of the territory of Hong Kong.

I am to inform you that Lord Salisbury concurs in Mr. Secretary Chamberlain's proposal to communicate the substance of the Law Officers' Report on the subject to the Governor of Hong Kong and to state to His Excellency that the Chinese Govern- ment has no power to grant leases on any portion of the foreshore.

Lord Salisbury sees no objection to the publication of the map referred to in the third paragraph of your letter, after it has been verified at Hong Kong. A communi- cation to that effect was made to the Director of Military Intelligence on receipt of your letter 1332/1900, of the 20th ultimo.†

The inclosed proofs have now been received from Sir John Ardagh, who has also returned the sketch map‡ inclosed in your letter of the 26th ultimo, which is trans- mitted herewith.

7000

No. 303.

I am,

&c.,

FRANCIS BERTIE.

FOREIGN OFFICE to COLONIAL OFFICE.

(Received March 3, 1900.)

SIR,

Foreign Office, March 2, 1900. WITH reference to my letter of the 24th of January, § I am directed by the Marquess of Salisbury to transmit to you copies of two despatches from Her Majesty's Minister at Peking relative to repeated requests made by the Chinese Government for the consent of Her Majesty's Government to the resumption of Chinese jurisdiction in the City of Kowloon.

Lord Salisbury does not propose to send any further reply to the Chinese Govern- ment on the subject.

(No. 345.) MY LORD,

·

Enclosure 1 in No. 303.

I am, &c.,

FRANCIS BERTIE.

Sir CLAUDE MACDONALD to the Marquess of Salisbury.

Peking, December 15, 1899. THE note from the Taungli-Yamen on the subject of the evacuation of Sham Chan, translation of which was enclosed in my despatch, No. 327, of November 17th,

• No. 301.

† No. 293.

Bee No. 125. ↑ L. F. (not received in Colonial Office) transmitting copy of the Annexure to this No.

389

contained a request that Her Majesty's Government would allow the resumption of Chinese jurisdiction within the City of Kowloon.

I have the honour to report that at an interview which I had yesterday with the Prince and Ministers of the Yamen, Their Excellencies again referred to the announce- ment that had been made to them that Her Majesty's Government adhered to the de- cision not to concede this point. They declared that the matter was one of great im- portance, not because Kowloon City itself was at all important, but because the position of this city in regard to the Kowloon Convention was analogous to the position of the City of Kinchow in regard to the Convention for the lease of Port Arthur to the Russians, who would, they said, be largely guided, in dealing with Kinchow, by British action concerning Kowloon City. If the provisions of our Convention were disregarded in the case of Kowloon, there was little doubt but that the Chinese Government would be also deprived of jurisdiction in the important City of Kinchow. The Ministers urged that I should represent this to Your Lordship with a view to inducing Her Majesty's Government to reconsider their decision.

I promised to report to Your Lordship what Their Excellencies had said. At the same time I had to remind them that according to the Convention, Chinese jurisdiction was to be retained "except in so far as may be inconsistent with military requirements"; Kowloon City was at the very gates of the Colony; for many years it had been an Alsatia for vagabonds and criminals of every sort, and the exercise of Chinese juris- diction had been abundantly proved to be not only "inconsistent with military require- ments," but a positive source of danger to Hong Kong. I could see very little analogy between Kowloon and Kinchow.

The Ministers replied that the Chinese Government would be willing to make any arrangements with the Hong Kong authorities in order to meet the necessities of the situation; provided only that the principle for which they contended could be main- tained, and the city return at least nominally to Chinese jurisdiction.

I have, &c.,

The Marquess of Salisbury, K.G., &c., &c., &c.

(No. 2.)

MY LORD,

Enclosure 2 in No. 303.

CLAUDE M. MACDONALD.

Sir CLAUDE MACDONALD to the Marquess of SALISBURY.

Peking, January 5, 1900. IN continuation of my despatch, No. 345, of December 15th, on the subject of the Tsungli-Yamen's request that the Chinese officials might be allowed to resume jurisdiction in Kowloon City, I have the honour to enclose translation of a second note, dated 24th December, which I received from the Prince and Ministers embodying their verbal arguments of the 14th December.

I also enclose copy of

my reply, dated 2nd instant, in which I declined to telegraph further to Your Lordship on the subject, and held out no hope that the request of the Chinese Government would be granted.

The Grand Secretary, Li Hung Chang, whose acting appointment of Viceroy of Canton I had the honour to report in my despatch, No. 352, of 23rd December, has since urged very strongly in conversation the views expressed by the Yamen. He con. tends that the Viceroy Tan, the cause of all the trouble, having been removed from his post by the Chinese Government, and he himself appointed in his place, full re- paration has been made for Tan's behaviour, and that the Convention should now be faithfully observed on both sides.

He contended that his record should satisfy Her Majesty's Government that he would keep proper order in all places under his jurisdiction.

I could not agree with His Excellency's views, but advised him to discuss the matter with the Governor of Hong Kong upon whom he intends to call en route for Canton.

The Marquess of Salisbury, K.G., &c., &o., &c.

I have, &c.,

CLAUDE M. MACDONALD.