CO129-224 - Foreign Office - 1885 — Page 358

Cabe 24 AUG 85,

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(No. 300.) My Lord,

No. 1.

Mr. O'Conor to Earl Granville-(Received August 11.)

Peking, June 17, 1885. IN continuation of my despatch No. 281 of the 11th instant, I have now the honour to inclose to your Lordship a translation in English, for which I am indebted to Mr. Baber, Chinese Secretary to Her Majesty's Legation, of the Chinese text of the Treaty of Peace between France and China, which was signed at Tien-tsin on the 9th instant.

Although this Treaty seems at first sight a somewhat colourless document, it nevertheless appears, on closer examination, to concede to the French every advantage which they originally hoped to gain by their project of exercising a Protectorate over Tonquin.

Out of the original scheme to open communications for commercial purposes by the Red River between south-western China and the coast of Tonquin, the occupation of the whole of Tonquin by France bas now grown, and by the present Treaty this occupation is tacitly conceded by China. So far as the Chinese Government is concerned, the French are now free to take undisputed possession of all, or nearly all, the navigable waters of the Red River. The whole of Tonquin is to be placed under their subjection. The suzerainty of China over Annam, and over Tonquin, which is a province of Annam, is practically ignored in the Treaty, being reduced to its lowest expression in the form that "the honour and dignity of China shall not be prejudiced by the relations of France with Annam."

French trade with Yünnan and Kwang-si across the frontier is to enjoy an alleviation of duties, the details of the Tariff remaining to be decided upon later on.

It is, however, specially mentioned that "such reduction of duties is not to apply to the case of overland trade across the border between Kwangtung and Tonquin," and it is to be hoped that in the near future we may be able to obtain an open port on the Canton River whence British products can enter the Province of Kwangtung, and even compete on tolerably fair terms in Kwang-si and Yunnan with those of France.

or

Your Lordship will notice that throughout this Treaty Tonquin is always mentioned or alluded to as "under the protection of France." Such terms as occupation" "annexation" find no place in its clauses. But at the same time, it is manifest that China fully recognizes the authority of France in Annam and Tonquin.

The trade clauses of the Treaty are reserved for future negotiation, and will form a Supplement to the present Treaty. These negotiations will begin very shortly, I believe, at Peking, and it will be my duty to watch their progress with all the attention that may be possible.

The construction of railways in Tonquin to the Chinese frontier, contemplated in Article VII, will be profitable only in so far as future stipulations allow French products to enter Yünnan and Kwang-si without being weighed down by the imposition of li-kin duties once they pass a certain distance from the frontier, and the appeal to France for assistance in the construction of railways in China would seem to be counterbalanced by the proviso that no exclusive advantages are thereby given to her to the prejudice of other foreign countries.

Article III, which concerns the delimitation of the frontier by a Joint Commission, does not declare with any distinctness what is to be taken as the basis of the delimitation, and contemplates a certain "rectification" of the actual frontier. It is unlikely that an agreement on so delicate a point will be speedily reached. Six months are to elapse before the appointment of the Commissioners, and it is not until after the delimitation has been determined that the subjects of the two Powers will be free to cross the frontier under passport.

I am inclined on the whole to regard the present Treaty as politically less interesting than the Li-Fournier Treaty of May 1884, while commercially much will depend on the result of the negotiations that are to form its Supplement.

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