CO129-269 - Governor Sir Robinson & Public Offices - 1895 [12] — Page 425

CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案 All

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of which are in favour of Japanese dried fish and Chinese raw cotton for export to Japan.

By Article XIV all articles imported by Japanese subjects, or from Japan, or manufactured in China by Japanese subjects, are exempted from transit dues when passing from one foreign settlement to another.

Articles XV and XVI provide for the commutation of transit dues on imports, or articles manufactured in China by Japanese subjects, and on exports.

Articles XVIII and XIX provide for information being furnished as to the number and position of barrier stations, and the rates they are authorized to levy, and impose on the Chinese Government the responsibility of refunding any excess that may be exacted.

Article XXI stipulates for the establishment of bonded warehouses at the open ports.

Article XXIX, dealing with complaints of a civil nature brought by either Japanese or Chinese subjects, is an improvement upon Article XVII of the British Treaty with China. It is no doubt based upon Article V of the Austro-Hungarian Treaty with Japan.

By Article XXXIII the surrender of Japanese offenders is provided for, as well as that of Chinese offenders. This is an enlargement of Article XXI of the British Treaty.

Article XXXIV provides for most-favoured-nation treatment in respect of the administration of justice.

Article XXXV similarly is intended to secure national as well as most-favoured- nation treatment in respect of entrance, clearance, &c., of ships, postal facilities, and a variety of other matters connected with trade, while Article XXXVI is a general most-favoured-nation clause.

I have, &c.

(Signed)

Inclosure 1. in No. 2.

ERNEST SATOW.

Draft Treaty of Commerce and Navigation between Japan and China.

HIS Majesty the Emperor of Japan, and His Majesty the Emperor of China, having resolved, in pursuance of the provisions of Article VI of the Treaty signed at Shimonoseki on the 17th day of the 4th month of the 28th year of Meiji, corresponding to the 23rd day of the 3rd month of the 21st year of Kwang Hsü, to conclude a Treaty of Commerce and Navigation, have for that purpose named as their Plenipotentiaries, that is to say:

Ilis Majesty the Emperor of Japan,

And His Majesty the Emperor of China,

Who, after having communicated to each other their full powers, found to be in good and due form, have agreed upon and concluded the following Articles :-

ARTICLE 1.

There shall be perpetual peace and friendship between His Majesty the Emperor of Japan and His Majesty the Emperor of China, and between their respective subjects.

ARTICLE II.

It is agreed by the High Contracting Parties that His Majesty the Emperor of Japan may, if he see fit, accredit a Diplomatic Agent to the Court of Peking, and His Majesty the Emperor of China may, if he see fit, nominate a Diplomatic Agent to the Court of Tokið.

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The Diplomatic Agent accredited by His Majesty the Emperor of Japan to the Court of Peking shall have the right permanently to reside, with his family, suite, and establishment, at the capital of China.

ARTICLE III.

The Diplomatic Agents of Japan and China shall respectively enjoy all the prerogatives, privileges, and immunities accorded by international law to such Agents, and they shall also in all respects be entitled to the treatment extended to similar Agents of the most-favoured nation.

Their persons, families, suites, establishments, residences, and correspondence shall be held inviolable. They shall be at liberty to select and appoint their own officers, couriers, interpreters, servants, and attendants without any kind of molestation.

ARTICLE IV.

His Majesty the Emperor of Japan may appoint Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice- Consuls, and Consular Agents to reside at such of the ports, cities, and towns of China which are now or may hereafter be opened to foreign residence and trade, as the interests of the Empire of Japan may require.

These officers shall be treated with due respect by the Chinese authorities, and they shall enjoy all the attributes, authority, jurisdiction, privileges, and immunities which are or may hereafter be extended to similar officers of the nation most favoured in these respects.

ARTICLE V.

All official communications addressed by the Diplomatic Agent or Consular officers of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan to the Chinese authorities shall be written in the Japanese language, and, in like manner, all official communications addressed by the Chinese authorities to such Diplomatic Agent or Consular officers shall be written in the Chinese language.

ARTICLE VI.

Japanese subjects may, with their families, employés, and servants, frequent, reside, and carry on trade, industries, and manufactures, or pursue any other avocations not prohibited by Treaty in all the ports, cities, and towns of China which are now or may hereafter be opened to foreign residence and trade. They are at liberty to proceed to or from any of the open ports with their merchandize and effects, either by land with their own or hired vehicles or conveyances, or by water with their own or chartered vessels, and within the localities at those places which have already been or may hereafter be set apart for the use and occupation of foreigners. They shall have the right to purchase, hire, or rent houses and land, and to sell and dispose of the same, and to build or open churches, cemeteries, and hospitals, enjoying in these and all other respects connected with the system of foreign settlements the same privileges and iminunities as the subjects or citizens of the most- favoured nation.

ARTICLE VII.

Japanese vessels shall have the right to touch, for the purpose of landing and shipping passengers and merchandize, at all the poris, cities, and towns of China which are now or which may hereafter be made ports of call.

ARTICLE VIII.

Japanese subjects have the right to travel, for their pleasure or for purposes of trade, to all parts of the interior of China, under passports issued by Japanese Consuls and countersigned by the local authorities. These passports, if demanded, must be produced for examination in the localities passed through. If the passports be not

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