CO129-362 - Public Offices - 1909 — Page 440

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[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.1

[B]

AFFAIRS OF CHINA.

CONFIDENTIAL.

[31703]

No. 1.

90327

SECTION 3.

[August 23.] II SEP 09,

438

Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.--(Received August 23.)

(No. 232. Confidential.) Sir.

Peking, June 30, 1909. MR. CHIROL, of the "Times," has spent the last fortnight in Peking as a guest of this legation, and this being his fourth visit to China since 1895, a brief account of his impressions may be of interest,

Mr. Chirol, it must be premised, has never taken a sanguine view of the future of China, and in spite of the great material changes which have taken place since he was last here in 1901, he still appears to have grave misgivings as to the regeneration of the country. He found that the social relations between foreigners and Chinese in the capital had undergone a remarkable alteration, and was surprised to meet Princes and Ministers of State on a footing of equality at the legations and private residences of foreigners. In contrast with this, he recalled the difficulty which Sir N, O'Conor in 1895 had experienced in inducing a single Chinese official of any standing to meet him.

On the other hand, his interviews with the leading statesmen in Peking confirmed bin in the belief that much as she had altered outwardly, China still remained the old China at heart, and that she was destined to give further trouble in the Far East. Both the conduct of her foreign relations and the management of her domestic affairs seem to have contributed equally to the formation of this opinion.

Mr. Chirol came here from Tokyo, where he had been taken fully into the confi- dence of the Japanese Government, and had been furnished with a detailed account of their differences with China in regard to Manchuria. Although I have no authority for saying so, it is conceivable that he hoped to assist in bridging over some of the difficulties connected with the settlement of the six outstanding Manchurian questions, but I fear he found little encouragement in the Chinese attitude.

Hsu Shih-ch'ang, the ex-Viceroy of Manchuria, with whom he discussed the whole question in my presence, gave a somewhat grudging assent to anything that was said in justification of Japanese proceedings in Manchuria, but concurred heartily in the criticism that was passed on the behaviour of the Japanese immigrant popula- tion. Mr. Chirol's temperate and impartial exposition of the situation, and his appeal for an amicable adjustment of it in the interests of both Powers, met with a less cordial response than it deserved, the ex-Viceroy merely contenting himself with saying that the Chinese case had been made known through the foreign press, and that China had offered to test the justice of it by proposing to submit it to The Hague Tribunal.

As an instance of the difficulties connected with these negotiations and the somewhat unreasonable attitude assumed by China, it may be mentioned that while Mr. Chirol was counselling a moderate and conciliatory policy, the Viceroy at Mukden notified the Japanese consul there that the Chinese Government refused to admit that the transformation of the military line from Antung to Mukden into a commercial line, as provided for in the 6th article of the 1905 Agreement, implied any alteration in the gauge, which is now 2 feet, and which the Japanese naturally wish to convert to 4 feet 24 inches.

Mr. Ijuin, the Japanese Minister, informs me that if China persists in this contention, the Japanese Government will be obliged to make the necessary change on their own authority.

Mr. Chirol had also interviews with Prince Su, Na-tung, Chang Chih-tung, Liang T'un-yen, and others, from all of whom he seems to have gathered the impression that the Central Government had less hold over the provinces than formerly, and that urgent problems, like currency reform, were making little real progress in spite of the numerous decrees they had provoked. As a specimen of these conversations, I inclose an interesting account by Mr. Campbell of Mr. Chirol's interview with Na-tung.

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