[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
CHINA TRADE.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[29331]
No. 1.
[August 24.]
SECTION 2.
(No. 301.) Sir,
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey,—(Received August 24.)
Peking, July 6, 1908.
I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch No. 225 of the 12th May, transmitting a copy of a Memorandum by the Commercial Intelligence Branch of the Board of Trade, in which two official statements on the subject of mining concessions in Manchuria are quoted, which do not appear to them to tally, and requesting me to procure and report to you the latest information available.
The statement by His Majesty's Consul-General at Mukden that foreigners cannot claim under the Treaties to acquire mining rights in the interior of China, and that such rights or concessions can only be granted to them by the Central Chinese Government is quite correct. No gold or other mining can be carried on by foreigners in Manchuria or elsewhere in China without the special permission of the Central Government, and the fact that no such permission to mine in Manchuria has been granted to foreigners since the Russo-Japanese war may have led the Commercial Attaché at Vladivostock to suppose that the Chinese Government allow none but Chinese to carry on the gold mining industry in Manchuria. In the Imperial Edict of the 2nd April, 1898, establishing a Bureau of Control of Railways and Mines, it is laid down that the Chief Commissioners of the Bureau shall from henceforth have special control over the opening of mines and construction of railways throughout the Empire, and Companies formed for the above purpose will in future be required to apply to the said Commissioners for permission and guidance in their operations.
Mining rights held by subjects of Russia and Japan in Manchuria were acquired previous to or as a result of the war between these two countries.
I have, &c. (Signed) J. N. JORDAN,
Page 21
457
[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
CHINA TRADE.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[29331]
No. 1.
[August 24.]
SECTION 2.
(No. 301.) Sir,
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey,—(Received August 24.)
Peking, July 6, 1908. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch No. 225 of the 12th May, transmitting a copy of a Memorandum by the Commercial Intelligence Branch of the Board of Trade, in which two official statements on the subject of mining concessions in Manchuria are quoted, which do not appear to them to tally, and requesting me to procure and report to you the latest information available.
The statement by His Majesty's Consul-General at Mukden that foreigners cannot claim under the Treaties to acquire mining rights in the interior of China, and that such rights or concessions can only be granted to them by the Central Chinese Government is quite correct. No gold or other mining can be carried on by foreigners in Manchuria or elsewhere in China without the special permission of the Central Government, and the fact that no such permission to mine in Manchuria has been granted to foreigners since the Russo-Japanese war may have led the Commercial Attaché at Vladivostock to suppose that the Chinese Government allow none but Chinese to carry on the gold mining industry in Manchuria. In the Imperial Edict of the 2nd April, 1898, establishing a Bureau of Control of Railways and Mines, it is laid down that the Chief Commissioners of the Bureau shall from henceforth have special control over the opening of mines and construction of railways throughout the Empire, and Companies formed for the above purpose will in future be required to apply to the said Commissioners for permission and guidance in their operations.
Mining rights held by subjects of Russia and Japan in Manchuria were acquired previous to or as a result of the war between these two countries.
I have, &c. (Signed) J. N. JORDAN,
[1904 aa-
21
457
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