[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.į
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submit, is an arbitrary extension of the terms of the treaty. We feel certain that Japan would not attempt to maintain this principle in the face of a strong represen- tation from His Majesty's Government; but as we have been unable to assure the Chinese Government that the Foreign Office will resist this obvious attempt of the Japanese to close Mongolia to British railway enterprise our position has become very weak,
The case outlined above is one of many in which we have undertaken survey contracts in China, in the hope that on completion the Chinese Government would decide to build the lines in question and give us the construction contracts.
As our future action in China must necessarily depend upon the accuracy or inaccuracy of the conclusion we have formed from the Fakumen and Canton-Hankow negotiations—namely, that is Majesty's Government restrict their support to the British and Chinese Corporation--we have decided to put our case plainly before you in this question of the Chenchow-Taonanfu scheme in order to obtain the views of the Foreign Office, and by them we shall be decisively guided in our future policy.
We have the honour to request an early consideration of our case, as the survey is now being carried out, and the Chinese Government will be compelled to take a decision as to the conclusion of a construction contract with us at no distant date; and we would be grateful if Sir Edward Grey would be good enough to accord Mr. George Pauling an opportunity of personally discussing the questions which form the subject of this letter, and on which we are anxious that His Majesty's Govern- ment should be very fully informed.
We would therefore be glad to learn when Sir Edward Grey could receive Mr. Pauling.
We are, &c. Pauling and Co. (Limited),
THO, SCOTT, Secretary.
CHINA RAILWAYS.
CONFIDENTIAL.
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[June 14.]
JULAS
SECTION 3.
No. 1.
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey. —(Received June 14.)
(No. 202.) Sir,
Peking, May 26, 1909. I HAVE the honour to transmit to you herewith copy of a despatch from His Majesty's consul-general at Mukden regarding the negotiations which have been proceeding for some time past between the Japanese consul-general and the Chinese authorities there for the reconstruction of the Antung-Mukden Railway.
A reference to the map of South Manchuria in the pamphlet which formed an cnclosure in my despatch No. 191 of the 24th May will help to elucidate the points at issue between the two parties.
I have, &c.
Inclosure in No. 1.
J. N. JORDAN.
Acting Consul-General Willis to Sir J. Jordan.
(No. 14.) Sir,
Mukden, May 14, 1909. NEGOTIATIONS have been proceeding for some time pust between the Japanese consulate-general here and the Chinese authorities with reference to the reconstruction of the Antung-Mukden Railway line, but no agreement has yet been arrived at, and the question now appears to be shelved pending the arrival of the newly-appointed Viceroy, his Excellency Hai Liang.
Under article 6 of the Peking Convention of the 22nd December, 1905, Japan was given the right to maintain and work the military line constructed between Antung and Mukden, and to improve the line so as to fit it for the conveyance of commercial and industrial goods. Three years were allowed for the completion of the line, and after the expiry of this term the concession was to run for fifteen years, when China had the option of repurchase.
The Japanese now wish to bring the line from Antung to Su Chia-tun, where it will join the South Manchurian Railway, and it is to this proposal that the Chinese authorities are offering determined opposition.
The Japanese authorities claim that under the new scheme the portion of the line to be reconstructed is shortened by about 20 miles, and there will also be no necessity to bridge the Hun river. Although there would seem to be an undoubted economic gain in this direction, it seems evident that when the time for the redemption of the line by China arrives in 1923, Japan, being in possession of the Mukden terminus, will practically be in a position to enforce her own terms.
Further, by bringing the line to Su Chia-tun, the necessity of crossing the South Manchurian branch line between Su Chia-tun and the Fushun mines is obviated, and the principle of the extra-territoriality of the South Manchurian line, to which the Japanese Government evidently attach the greatest importance, is strictly preserved.
There are, I understand, many other points of difference between the negotiators, the most important of which are the question of policing the line, Japan maintaining that it should form part of the South Manchurian system, and the position of the terminus at Antung, which the Japanese wish to place in the Japanese Settlement, to the detriment, it is claimed, of the native city.
His Excellency the Viceroy Isu informed me recently in the course of conversa- tion that he saw no immediate prospect of any settlement of the question.
I have, &c.
ROBERT WILLIS.
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