CO129-361 - Public Offices - 1909 — Page 373

2

C.0.

[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government17226

(Translation.)

Form of Pass.

3

Whereas an application for a travelling permit has been received from the

subject [Consul] on behalf of the subject proceeding to

this pass is now issued.

has not yet concluded a Treaty of Commerce with China, and the Wai-wu Pu has given instructions that the subjects of non-Treaty Powers residing or travelling in China are to be accorded the same treatment as Chinese subjects. This special travelling permit is now issued, and all officials in charge of the localities through which the holder passes are enjoined to allow him to proceed after inspecting the permit, and to afford him all proper protection, and must not delay or hinder him. Should the traveller commit any offence against the laws, he may be detained by the local authorities, who shall report to us, in order that he may be punished in accord- ance with law.

[B]

AFFAIRS OF CHINA.

CONFIDENTIAL.

RECR

371

Rea 21 MAY 09

[May 3.]

SECTION 4.

[16633]

No. 1.

Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey,-(Received May 3.)

(No. 154.) Sir,

Peking, April 12, 1909. I HAVE deferred replying to your telegram No. 57 of the 29th ultimo until I had an opportunity of consulting General Waters and ascertaining more fully from him his attitude respecting the question of the Legation guards at Peking, which formed the subject of his despatch to the Army Council of the 12th January last.

I have taken advantage of General Waters' presence here to talk over the matter with him, and have come to the conclusion that the reductions in the garrisons of the other Powers do not as yet call for any change of policy on our part.

It is true that the Chinese troops round Peking have greatly increased in numbers and improved in efficiency since 1900, and that the defence of the Legations against an* attack by the modern Chinese army would probably be an impossible task, but this has been the case for some years past, and has not been affected to any great extent by the reduction which has lately taken place in the foreign garrisons. That reduction, as the inclosed table will show, has amounted to less than 500 men during the past two years, and in case of emergency could almost certainly be made good from other sources at any time. General Waters informs me that on the least sign of trouble he could reinforce the British Legation guard from Tien-tsin without seriously impairing the protection of his base at that place, and it is believed that there are about 1,000 Japanese reservists scattered amongst the civil population of Peking, for whom arms and ammunition are said to be kept in readiness by the Japanese.

As General Waters remarks in his despatch to the War Office, the presence of even a small body of foreign troops in Peking has a strong moral effect. and acts as a reminder to the population that the events of nine years ago are not entirely forgotten. So long therefore as we retain troops in North China the Legation guard should, I think, be kept at its present strength, but it certainly seems unfair that some of the Powers should reduce their guards without reference to the others, and not bear their part in the cominon duty of protection. The Russians are the worst defaulters in this respect, and the withdrawal of their guard would, in the event of trouble, impose an especially heavy task upon us, as the two Legations adjoin. The Japanese and German guards have also both been greatly weakened in numbers of late.

The larger question of the withdrawal of all the troops remains to be considered, and here I confess I feel some difficulty in committing myself to a definite expression of opinion, as it involves a forecast of the future, and in China it is often the unexpected that happens.

The situation has entirely changed since my despatch No. 430 of the 25th September, 1908, was written. The deaths of the Emperor and the Empress Dowager produced no outward trouble of any kind, and the Regency was started under favourable auspices. It cannot, however, be said with truth that the Central Govern- ment is as strong as it was a year ago, or that there has been any improvement in the administration under the new régime. This is especially the case with the Board of Foreign Affairs, which has been so depleted by the dismissal of Yuan Shih Kai and the illness of Na Tung that it is no longer capable of conducting the foreign relations of the country.

The only Minister now left with any pretensions of being a statesman is Liang Tun Yen, and he freely admits that he possesses neither the influence nor the power necessary to make the provinces respect the engagements which the Imperial Government has contracted with foreign Powers. The result is that not a single foreign question has, so far as I can recall, been settled since the Regency began, five months ago.

Nor has any progress been made in other directions. Financial reform, which must be the basis of all sound reform, seems to be as far off as ever, and the state of the

currency has been aggravated by the unlimited issue of inconvertible paper notes. Foreign advice is invariably met by the assurance that China can work out all these

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