[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
AFFAIRS OF CHINA.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[4357]
No. 1.
[February 8.]
SECTION 3.
(No. 587.) Sir,
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received February 8, 1908.)
Peking, December 23, 1907.
ON the receipt of your despatch No. 344 of the 5th September, authorizing me to convey to the Viceroy of Nanking a private acknowledgment of thanks for his assurance that if the Chinese Government engages a naval adviser for the proposed reorganization of the Chinese navy he shall be British, I instructed His Majesty's Consul at Nanking in this sense.
I have now received a despatch from Mr. Ker, copy of which I have the honour to inclose, reporting a conversation with the Viceroy, during which he carried out his instructions, and from which it would appear that the Viceroy, when making this assurance, was intending merely to express his own private opinion, and was not speaking for the Central Government.
I have, &c.
J. N. JORDAN.
(Signed)
Inclosure in No. 1.
Consul Ker to Sir J. Jordan.
(No. 25. Confidential.) Sir,
Nanking, December 5, 1907.
AT an interview with the Viceroy Tuan Fang yesterday I took the first opportunity that had presented itself since I received your despatch No. 12 of the 21st October last, on the subject of the appointment of a naval adviser to China, to carry out the instructions contained therein. I recalled the conversation that had taken place two months ago, when I had alluded to certain rumours in the newspapers as to the proposed engagement by the Chinese Government of a foreigner to assist in reconstructing the navy, and the Viceroy had informed me that nothing had yet been settled, adding that if a foreign naval adviser were appointed he would of course be British. I said that I had been instructed to convey to his Excellency a private acknowledgment of Sir Edward Grey's thanks for this assurance.
The Viceroy seemed somewhat surprised, and hastened to qualify his previous remark by explaining that what he had said was merely the expression of his own private opinion, and that he was not in a position to speak for the Central Government on a matter which lay entirely within their province to decide.
I may add that the impression made on me at the time was that the Viceroy meant nothing more than to express his own personal conviction that a British officer would naturally be selected by the Chinese Government in preference to any other for the post in question, and I reported his observation with special reference to the report which had reached the Foreign Office, that an attempt was being made to obtain the post for a German through his Excellency's influence.
I have, &c.
[2846 h-3]
(Signed)
W. P. KER.
59
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[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
AFFAIRS OF CHINA.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[4357]
No. 1.
[February 8.]
SECTION 3.
(No. 587.) Sir,
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received February 8, 1908.)
Peking, December 23, 1907. ON the receipt of your despatch No. 344 of the 5th September, authorizing me to convey to the Viceroy of Nanking a private acknowledgment of thanks for his assurance that if the Chinese Government engages a naval adviser for the proposed reorganization of the Chinese navy he shall be British, I instructed His Majesty's Consul at Nanking in this sense.
I have now received a despatch from Mr. Ker, copy of which I have the honour to inclose, reporting a conversation with the Viceroy, during which he carried out bis instructions, and from which it would appear that the Viceroy, when making this assurance, was intending merely to express his own private opinion, and was not speaking for the Central Government.
I have, &c.
J. N. JORDAN.
(Signed)
Inclosure in No. 1.
Consul Ker to Sir J. Jordan.
(No. 25. Confidential.) Sir,
Nanking, December 5, 1907. AT au interview with the Viceroy Tuan Fang yesterday I took the first opportunity that had presented itself since I received your despatch No. 12 of the 21st October last, on the subject of the appointment of a naval adviser to China, to carry out the instructions contained therein. I recalled the conversation that had taken place two months ago, when I had alluded to certain rumours in the newspapers as to the proposed engagement by the Chinese Government of a foreigner to assist in recon- structing the navy, and the Viceroy had informed me that nothing had yet been settled, adding that if a foreign naval adviser were appointed he would of course be British. I said that I had been instructed to convey to his Excellency a private acknowledgment of Sir Edward Grey's thanks for this assurance.
The Viceroy seemed somewhat surprised, and hastened to qualify his previous remark by explaining that what he had said was merely the expression of his own private opinion, and that he was not in a position to speak for the Central Government on a matter which lay entirely within their province to decide.
I may add that the impression made on me at the time was that the Viceroy meant nothing more than to express his own personal conviction that a British officer would naturally be selected by the Chinese Government in preference to any other for the post in question, and I reported his observation with special reference to the report which had reached the Foreign Office, that an attempt was being made to obtain the post for a German through his Excellency's influence.
I have, &c.
[2846 h-3]
(Signed)
W. P. KER.
59
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