CO129-361 - Public Offices - 1909 — Page 38

[B]

This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]

AFFAIRS OF CHINA.

CONFIDENTIAL.

[10652]

36

C.O. 12195

[March 20.]

RECR REGP

APR O SECTION 4.

No. 1.

Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received March 20.)

(No. 59. Confidential.) Sir,

I HAVE the honour to transmit to you herewith copy of an interesting despatch

Peking, February 4, 1909. from the Acting British Consul-General at Mukden, reporting on the effect which the dismissal of Yuan Shih-k'ai has had upon the Provincial Administration of Manchuria. The views expressed by Mr. Willis correspond, you will observe, very closely with those contained in my telegrams and despatches on this subject, and it is unnecessary to add that they are the result of entirely independent observation on the spot.

I asked Mr. Willis privately to furnish me with an official and dispassionate statement of his views based upon the information in his possession, but purposely refrained from giving him any indication of my own opinion. He is evidently as much puzzled as I am to account for the persistent rumours of Japanese intrigue. In a private letter of the same date as his despatch he writes :---

"I should very much like to know, confidentially, if there is anything in the theory that the Japanese are at the bottom of the Yuan episode. It is at any rate a very plausible one.”

I have been shown a despatch to the American Minister from the American Consul-General at Mukden, in which the suspicion is recorded in much stronger terms, but there is no evidence, so far as I know, to substantiate the statements which have been so freely made by Yuan's friends.

I understand that the Viceroy's resignation is not likely to be accepted, but there can be no doubt that the Manchurian régime has been greatly weakened by recent events.

It may not be out of place to add that several of our colleagues who failed to join Mr. Rockhill and myself in the representation which we made to Prince Ching, now recognize that the step had a salutary effect, and that, but for it, things might have proceeded further than they have done. The Austro-Hungarian Minister, for instance, who was not opposed to any representation as savouring of intervention, told me yesterday that he now recognized the wisdom of the step my American colleague and I had taken.

I have, &c. (Signed) J. N. JORDAN.

า

T

Inclosure in No. 1.

Acting Consul-General Willis to Sir J. Jordan,

(No. 3. Confidential.) Sir,

Mukden, February 2, 1909. SINCE the dismissal of his Excellency Yuan Shih-k'ai, there have been persistent reports current in this city that his removal would shortly be followed by that of his Excellency Hsu Shih-chang, the Viceroy of the Three Eastern Provinces, and the principal members of the Provincial Administration, many of whom are prominent members of Yuan's party.

Mr. M. T. Liang and the other members of the Government with whom I have discussed the situation have, until a few days ago, assured me that, in their opinion, his Excellency Yuan's dismissal was largely a personal matter, and that they trusted that they would be able to weather the storm. At the same time it was evident from their demeanour that they were in some trepidation as to the consequences of the action of the Central Government on their own position.

[2194 u-t]