"
:
2
Altesse combien il serait à desirer, évitant ainsi que de nouvelles difficultés se produisent, que le Gouvernement Impérial nommât promptement les Délégués qui, conjointement avec les Portugais dont j'ai eu l'honneur de communiquer les noms à votre Altesse en ma note du 3 Octobre dernier, devront procéder à la délimitation de Macau et de ses dépendances.
Je profite, &c.
>
This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
AFFAIRS OF CHINA
CONFIDENTIAL.
152 C.0.
[December 28.] 3230
SECTION
28 09
Inclosure 2 in No. 1.
Memorandum communicated by the Wai-uu Pu to Senhor Brederode.
(Translation.)
WITH regard to the objections of China to the three Delegates appointed by Portugal for the Boundary Commission, and to your verbal representation to Mr. Chou to the effect that the causes should be stated why these three persons are not held in high esteem by the people of Canton and Macao, the Board have the honour to communicate the following reply to their telegraphic inquiries, which have been received from the Viceroy :—
"In pursuance of instructions, the Sub-Prefect at Ch'ien-shan has investigated, and reports on the authority of petitions made to him in writing by Huang K'uei Tan, Tu Ting Yuan, Huang Fu Yuan, Yang Ying Lin, and others, notables of Hsiang Shan, Chien-shan, Pei Shan, &c., that whereas information has been received that the foreign officers on the Boundary Commission are to be the present Harbourmaster, Francisco Diogo de Sa, the Director of Public Works, Miranda Guedes, and the Interpreter, Carlos d'Assumpeao, they felt bound to point out that in the year or more that the Harbourmaster had been in Macao he had treated Chinese subjects cruelly, by interfering without cause with their fishing boats on the Wangtzu side in Chinese territory, and by seizing, fining, and detaining them. The Engineer was constantly tearing down people's houses while carrying on road repairs, and encroaching on their land for street construction, besides doing wilful damage and annoying the residents in many ways.
"Sung Tzu-Sheng" [this interpreter appears from his name to be of Chinese race.— Translator] "utilized his position as interpreter to stir up the Portuguese authorities, and is excessively unpopular. The petitioners, as residents of Pei Shan, which is just north of Macao, and only separated from it by a strip of water, and of Kungtu, and the other villages near Chien Shan, are in the best position to learn the truth about affairs in Macao, which itself was originally part of the Hsiang Shan jurisdiction. So these gentry may be taken to be representatives of that district, and from their opposition it may be seen that the popular feeling is strongly against these three persons. Will the Board therefore be good enough to write to the Portuguese Chargé d'Affaires, asking him to inform his Government, and to request them to make fresh appointments of officers bearing good reputations and characters ?'
The Board accordingly have the honour to communicate this telegram, with the
will transmit its substance to request that
Government. you
your
[45128]
No. 1.
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.—(Received December 28.)
(No. 501. Confidential.) Sir,
Peking, November 4, 1908. M. KOROSTOVETZ, the Russian Minister, with whom I have had frequent conversations on the question of the Railway Settlement at Harbin, invited me some days ago to furnish him with my views in writing, as he considered it would be of material assistance to him in dealing with the military authorities to have the opinions of the Representatives of some of the leading Commercial Powers in Treaty relations with China. I accordingly embodied a short statement of my views in a note to M. Korostovetz, copy of which is inclosed herewith. In this I made it clear that the suggestions which I offered for a settlement of the matter were merely a personal expression of opinion.
In his reply, copy of which is likewise inclosed, M. Korostovetz expressed his appreciation of these suggestions, which he thought would be of use to him.
It is clear that the conversion of the whole area now held by the Russians into an international Settlement is the only solution of the question which stands any chance of general acceptance, and which is ever likely to make Harbin the commercial success which, from its situation, it might naturally expect to become.
My own opinion, though formed independently, only reflects that of the Acting British Consul-General at Mukden, as expressed in his recent despatches, but it is fully confirmed by the American Consul at Harbin, an interesting report by whom on the same subject is inclosed herewith.
I have, &c. (Signed) J. N. JORDAN.
Inclosure 1 in No. 1.
Sir J. Jordan to M. Korostovetz.
My dear M. Korostovetz,
Peking, November 2, 1903. WE have several times discussed in a friendly and informal manner the question of the Russian Settlement at Harbin, and you have been good enough to invite me to put my views before you in writing.
In now doing so I wish it to be clearly understood that I am merely expressing my personal opinion.
As you will recollect, I at first suggested the possibility of a compromise under which a portion of the ground such as could be reasonably claimed under a fair interpretation of the Agreement of 1896 should be reserved for exclusive railway purposes, and the remainder converted into an international Settlement. It seems, however, that there would be considerable practical difficulty in setting apart a reasonable area for the exclusive use of the railway at Harbin, and after looking at the matter from every point of view, the only suggestion I can offer is that the whole of the ground should be converted into an international Settlement, with a Municipal Council elected by property owners and ratepayers in the usual way. This solution would satisfy the Commercial Powers in Treaty relations with China, would uphold the principle of equal opportunity in Manchuria, and would entail no hardships upon either Russia or China. So far as Russia is concerned, the Concession would be merely a nominal one, for Russian subjects, by their numerical superiority, would in practice continue to control the administration.
The Chinese would probably object, as they aim, I understand, at recovering possession of the Settlement area, but they must realize that this is impracticable, and would probably be satisfied if the Taotai, as in the case of the international Settlement in Kulangsu, whose administration works well, were authorized to app int a Chinese member of the Municipal Council. I gather that the present area of the
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