No. 2.
278 7
27085
Sir E. Satow to the Marquess of Lansdowne.-(Received July 8.)
(No. 175. Confidential.) My Lord,
Peking, May 16, 1901.
I HAVE the honour to forward herewith, for your Lordship's confidential information, extracts of a letter from Mr. Tower, Secretary of Legation, reporting on French activity in Kwangtung and Kwangsi Provinces, and on other matters noted by him in the course of his journey.
I have, &c. (Signed)
ERNEST SATOW,
(Extract.)
Inclosure in No. 2.
Mr. Tower to Sir E. Satow.
Canton, April 25, 1901. DURING my wanderings I have been greatly struck by the signs of French activity in the Provinces of Kwangtung and Kwangsi. Since the acquisition by France in 1898 of the territory of Kwang-chow-wan, on the east side of the Lieuchow Peninsula, great efforts to assert a predominant French influence in the region lying between the present Chino-Tongkingese frontier and Kwang-chow-wan have been made under the inspiration and guidance of M. Doumer, the Governor-General of Indo-China. This intervening region includes the Treaty ports of Pakhoi and Kiungchow (on the Island of Hainan), in both of which places we have maintained Consulates since 1876.
Kwang-chow-wan, with its surrounding territories, was ceded by China to France on lease, and was occupied by the French in April 1898. With the two Islands of Gaochow and Tanghai it is said to form a fair port, reached by two narrow entrances. From the account given to me by an Englishman who has recently been there, little seems to have been done except providing accommodation for the troops, and there can be no prospect of the place or bay serving any commercial purpose. Its utility can only be military, and appears to be regarded by the French only as a point to which the boundary between their colonial possessions and China may be pushed northwards.
M. Doumer's policy then is to extend French influence along the southern sea-board of the Kwangtung Province and its hinterland, while advancing at the same time from Tongking northwards into Kwangsi and north-westwards into Yünnan. The railway to Langson was opened in 1894, and an extension from Langson to Lungchow has been authorized by the Chinese Government. A further extension as far as Nanning-fu is in contemplation.
French Consular officers are established at Pakhoi, Kiungchow, Lungchow, as well as at Mengtse, Ssumao, and Hokow. At the two former places, which I visited, the French Consulate is an imposing structure, far beyond the possible requirements. The operations of the French Consuls in Kwantung, who look to M. Doumer, in Saigon, for political guidance rather than to their Diplomatic Representative in Peking, appear to be chiefly educational and medical. In Kiungchow a free school was opened by the French Government for teaching the French language to the Chinese, and a medical officer was appointed
No. 2.
278 7
27085
Sir E. Satow to the Marquess of Lansdowne.-(Received July 8.)
(No. 175. Confidential.) My Lord,
Peking, May 16, 1901.
I HAVE the honour to forward herewith, for your Lordship's confidential information, extracts of a letter from Mr. Tower, Secretary of Legation, reporting on French activity in Kwangtung and Kwangsi Provinces, and on other matters noted by him in the course of his journey.
I have, &c. (Signed)
ERNEST SATOW,
(Extract.)
Inclosure in No. 2.
Mr. Tower to Sir E. Satow.
Canton, April 25, 1901. DURING my wanderings I have been greatly struck by the signs of French activity in the Provinces of Kwangtung and Kwangsi. Since the acquisition by France in 1898 of the territory of Kwang-chow-wan, on the east side of the Lieuchow Peninsula, great efforts to assert a predominant French influence in the region lying between the present Chino-Tongkingese frontier and Kwang-chow-wan have been made under the inspiration and guidance of M. Doumer, the Governor-General of Indo-China. This intervening region includes the Treaty ports of Pakhoi and Kiungchow (on the Island of Hainan), in both of which places we have maintained Consulates since 1876.
Kwang-chow-wan, with its surrounding territories, was ceded by China to France on lease, and was occupied by the French in April 1898. With the two Islands of Gaochow and Tanghai it is said to form a fair port, reached by two narrow entrances. From the account given to me by an Englishman who has recently been there, little seems to have been done except providing accommodation for the troops, and there can be no prospect of the place or bay serving any commercial purpose. Its utility can only be military, and appears to be regarded by the French only as a point to which the boundary between their colonial possessions and China may be pushed northwards.
it
M. Doumer's policy then is to extend French influence along the southern sea-board of the Kwangtung Province and its hinterland, while advancing at the same time from Tongking northwards into Kwangsi and north-westwards into Yünnan. The railway to Langson was opened in 1894, and an extension from Langson to Lungchow has been authorized by the Chinese Government. A further extension as far as Nanning-fu is in contemplation.
French Consular officers are established at Pakhoi, Kiungchow, Lungchow, as well as at Mengtse, Ssumao, and Hokow. At the two former places, which I visited, the French Consulate is an imposing structure, far beyond the possible requirements. The operations of the French Consuls in Kwantung, who look to M. Doumer, in Saigon, for political guidance rather than to their Diplomatic Representative in Peking, appear to be chiefly educational and medical. In Kiungchow a free school was opened by the French Govern- ment for teaching the French language to the Chinese, and a medical officer was appointed
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