CO129-224 - Foreign Office - 1885 — Page 330

Col: off

D'Comer

133

No. 54.

Mr. O'Conor to Earl Granville.—(Received May 19.)

328

C. O. 13437

REC?

REGO 30 JUL 85

(No. 134. Secret and Confidential.) My Lord,

Peking, March 29, 1885. WITH reference to my despatch No. 133 of yesterday's date, marked Secret and Confidential, I have the honour to inform your Lordship that the main difference now existing between France and China appears to be whether, as the Chinese contend, the status quo

shall continue in Tonquin until the Definitive Treaty of Peace, or, as the French require, the whole of that country, shall be given up to them as soon as the Preliminary Agreement or Protocol is signed.

The question of the stoppage of rice coming northwards is also, I believe, a much disputed point. The French argue that by allowing Peking and the northern provinces to re-victual, they not only lose all the advantages of the last six weeks, but afford China the means of continuing the war with greater ease should the present negotiations unhappily break down. The period intervening between the acceptance by both sides of the Protocol and the signature of the Definitive Treaty of Peace must be looked upon as a time of armistice, in which neither party should gain any advantage.

I think it not improbable that the Chinese will give way on this point, as they attach great importance to the somewhat similar understanding respecting the Island of Formosa.

On the whole, the prospects of a speedy termination of the Franco-Chinese war seem very good at this moment.

I cannot, however, wholly dismiss from my mind the fear that in the detailed negotia- tions France will seek some compensation for the lost indemnity in special commercial priví leges likely to be injurious to England in proportion as they are exclusive and exceptional. There is reason to believe that after the Langson affair in August 1884 China was inclined to entertain proposals coming from the side of France by which the right of building railways throughout the country should be conceded exclusively to Frenchmen for a number of years, and that it was seriously offered and entertained as a basis of

peace.

What may be the nature of the special frontier commercial advantages claimed by France at the present moment I have failed to discover, though I gather from a Chinese source that, whatever they are, the Chinese Government has declared they must be limited by what they can afford to give to other nations who have the most-favoured-nation clause in their Treaties.

I have also reason to think that certain definite commercial proposals of France are at this moment under the consideration of the Yamêu, and I therefore thought it advisable in conversation with the Ministers this day to allude to the subject.

I said that I had heard reports of negotiations for peace between France and China, and that I was sure Her Majesty's Government would hear with extreme satisfaction of the termination of a long and painful war, which they had viewed with so much concern. I then went on to observe that, while wishing every success to the pending negotiations peace, I felt it my duty to express most earnestly the hope that, whatever might be the final terms, there would be found no commercial stipulations opposed to the rights or the legitimate interests of England.

for

It was, I understood, the quality of the British Representative to cement by every means in his power the growing friendship between the two countries, and I felt sure their Excellencies would agree with ine in thinking that nothing should be done likely to check the further development of the good understanding now happily existing between them.

In reply, the Ministers of the Yamên assured me I might feel quite easy on this point, but that, nevertheless, they would not fail to communicate the observations I had confidentially made to them on this subject to the other Ministers of the Tsung-li Yainên.

I have, &c. (Signed) N. R. O'CONOR.

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