[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.].
AFFAIRS OF CHINA.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[18304]
No. 1.
479
[May 15.]
SECTION 2.
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received May 15.)
(No. 135.) Sir,
Peking, March 30, 1909. THE announcement of the appointment by the Chinese and Portuguese Govern- ments of a Joint Commission to delimit the boundary between the Colony of Macao and China has not had the effect of diminishing the activities of the local " patriots in Canton, and the notorious Self-Government Society has not been slow to encourage agitation against any concession to the Portuguese. The despatch from the Acting Consul-General at Canton, copy of which I have the honour to inclose, serves to show the unreasoning attitude adopted by this so-called "patriotic Association," and the attempt made by the Society to revive anti-Japanese feeling by allusions to the "Tatsu Maru case, and to influence the deliberations of the future Commission by organizing Societies and demonstrations hostile to the Portuguese, constitute yet another proof of the difficulties which have to be faced by the Chinese local authorities, and of the obstructions which, unless they are promptly dealt with, may well stand in the way of
peaceful settlement of the Macao question.
I have, &c. (Signed)
a
J. N. JORDAN.
(No. 25.)
Inclosure 1 in No. 1.
Acting Consul General Fox to Sir J. Jordun.
Canton, March 15, 1909. Sir,
IN continuation of my despatch No. 19 of the 26th February, on the subject of affairs at Macao, I have the honour to inclose translation of a paragraph which "Kwo Shib Pao" of the 9th March, reporting a appeared in the Chinese newspaper meeting called by the Self-Government Society to discuss the question of the delimita- tion of the Sino-Portuguese frontier at Macao.
This meeting, held on the anniversary of the release of the "Tatsu Maru 11," was presided over by the notorious Li Kai Hi, and the object of its promoters evidently was to draw the attention of the people of Canton to the approaching negotiations with the Macao Government, and by reminding them of the humiliation inflicted on China by the Japanese in the case of the "Tatsu Maru," to influence public opinion against making any concessions to the Portuguese in the present instance.
The effect of this agitation, as I pointed out to one of the Viceroy's secretaries at a recent interview, will be to insure beforehand the failure of the recently appointed Commission, and I urged the Secretary to use his influence with the Viceroy to induce his Excellency to take some effective steps, before it was too late, to curb the activity of the handful of irresponsible agitators who had done so much during the past two years to stir up strife between Chinese and foreigners in Canton.
My Japanese colleague, Mr. Segawa, called on the Viceroy on Thursday last and protested against this attempt to reopen the "Tatsu Maru
case.
Mr. Segawa informs me that, in spite of his protests to the Viceroy, some of the Canton newspapers, notably the "Seventy-two Guilds Gazette," continue to publish exaggerated and false reports of anti-Japanese boycott proceedings in Singapore, Java, and other places, and that all the papers still refuse to record the arrivals and departures of Japanese steamers in Hong Kong.
Otherwise, says Mr. Segawa, the boycott makes itself but little felt, and it would, in his opinion, die a natural death were it not for the Self-Government Society.
As an instance of the manner in which not only the Canton native press, but also the Chinese correspondents of foreign newspapers in Hong Kong, continue to draw attention to the boycott, I have the honour to append an extract from an article which appeared in the "Hong Kong Telegraph" of to-day's date.
The Portuguese Consul-General has taken no official notice of the above- mentioned meeting, but he has warned the Governor of Macao that emissaries of the
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