[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government. 0.
AFFAIRS OF CHINA.
CONFIDENTIAL.
440
502 [November 17 DEC 07
SECTION 1.
[36641]
Sir,
No. 1.
Chinese Engineering and Mining Company to Foreign Office.-(Received November 6.)
22, Austin Friars, London, November 5, 1907. REFERRING to your letter of the 18th July last, on the subject of the occupation of land by the French at Chin Wang Tao, and inclosing a copy of a letter of the 4th July from M. Pichon, the French Foreign Minister, and a Memorandum on the subject. My Directors have been in communication with the Company's representative in China, and I am instructed to reply as follows:-
M. Pichon's letter might give the impression that this Company has adopted an unconciliatory attitude in dealing with the question of the French occupation. I am therefore desired to point out that, so far from this being the case, the Company has throughout expressed its willingness to concede to the French Government exactly the same advantages which have been accepted by the German and Japanese Governments. The Company, in fact, expressed its willingness to meet the demands made by the French Minister for land for naval, military, and Government purposes, although these demands exceeded those of either the Japanese or the German Governments. Moreover, the Company's proposals were accepted as satisfactory by M. Dubail, the former Minister at Peking, who concluded an Agreement accordingly on the 5th October, 1904. It was only after a lapse of eighteen months that the Company received information that this Agreement was rejected by the French Foreign Office.
M. Pichon's letter proposes as an equitable compromise the very conditions which from the first have been rejected as unacceptable to this Company.
The French Memorandum may be divided into four sections :--
1. The justification of the French action and position.
2. The alleged history of the port and the Company, and a discussion of its
rights.
3. A threat to take action with the Chinese Government hostile to the Company. 4. A reiteration of proposals for a settlement which from the first have been rejected by this Company.
The French Government are at present in occupation--
(a.) Of certain lands near the railway station.
These lands were occupied by the French Government at the end of 1900 or the beginning of 1901, simultaneously with the temporary occupation of land at Chin Wang Tao effected by other Powers. This area of ground in the occupation of the French authorities is far greater than that occupied by the other Powers, and only a small portion of it is actually required for their naval and military depôts. The Company has always expressed ita willingness to the retention of this extended area by the French Government for Government purposes.
The only issue with respect to these lands, therefore, is their assignment by the French Government to their nationals for private or trading purposes. This is dealt with later, where it is shown that the Protocol of the 7th September, 1901, Article 9, on which the French Government's claim is based, expressly recognizes "le droit d'occuper certains points pour maintenir les communications libres entre la capitale et la mer," but only for that special purpose.
(b) Of certain lands on the bluff at Chin Wang Tao.
These lands were forcibly seized by the French Government in October 1901, at a time when they were indisputably in the possession of this Company, and some time subsequent to the signing of the Peace Protocol of the 7th September, 1901. It is surprising that the French Memorandum makes no reference to this, nor affords any justification of their action.
Completely independent and reliable evidence of this seizure and its date is to be found in the Report of Captain H. W. Cruddas, Officer Commanding Chin Wang Tao, addressed on the 20th October, 1901, to the Chief Staff Officer of the British China. Field Force in Tien-tsin.
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