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[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government O
[B]
CHINA RAILWAYS.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[2822]
No. 1.
4810
RECR
Rro 18 FEB 10
[January 21.]
SECTION 3.
Substance of Draft of Japanese Reply to the American Note.(Communicated by Japanese Ambassador January 21, 1910.)
THE Imperial Government, sincerely upholding the integrity of the Chinese Empire and the principle of equal opportunity in all parts of China, would unhesi- tatingly lend their support to the project of internationalisation of the railways in Manchuria if they could bring themselves to the conclusion that its realisation would accomplish the result desired. The most serious objection to the proposal lies in the fact that it contemplates an important departure from the terms of the Treaty of Portsmouth. That treaty was designed to establish in Manchuria a stable and permanent order of things, and the Imperial Government believe that in loyal adhesion. to its provisions are to be found the highest guarantees of enduring peace in this part of the world and of orderly advancement of Manchuria. Not the least difficult of many difficult problems that were definitely solved at Portsmouth was the question of rail- ways. That adjustment subsequently received deliberate confirmation of the Chinese Government in the Treaty of Peking, and the railway operations now carried on in southern Manchuria are consistent with the original concessions which were with equal deliberation granted by the same Power. Nor can the Imperial Government see in the present conditions of things in Manchuria anything so exceptional as to make it necessary or desirable to set up there exceptional system not required in other parts of China. There is nothing in the actual situation in that region, so far as the Imperial Government are aware, which exceptionally interferes with the undisturbed enjoyment by China of her political rights. So far as the question of open door is concerned, the principle of equal opportunity possesses in its application to Manchuria more compre- hensive significance than it has elsewhere in China in virtue of article 7 of the Treaty of Portsmouth. Finally, with the matter of railway administration, it is impossible for the Imperial Government to believe that the substitution of an international, in place of a national, régime would prove advantageous. On the contrary, it seems to them that in the presence of such system, economy and efficiency would be obliged to yield to political exigence and that divided responsibilities of the system would inevitably mean absence of due responsibility, to the disadvantage of the public and the detriment of the service. These are the principal reasons why the project does not commend itself to the favourable consideration of the Imperial Government, but there are other cogent reasons which cannot be ignored. In the region affected by the Japanese rail- ways in Manchuria there have grown up numerous Japanese industrial and commercial. undertakings, which owed their inception, as they owe their continued existence, to the fact that the Imperial Government, having under their control the railways in question, are able to extend to those enterprises and to the persons engaged in them due protection and defence against attack and pillage by lawless bands that still infest the country. In the development of those activities, which is contributing in such a marked degree to the prosperity and progress of Manchuria, large numbers of Japanese subjects and large sums of Japanese money are enlisted, and the Imperial Government could not in good faith, or with due sense of their responsibility, consent to surrender the means by which such protection and defence are alone made possible. The fore- going observations have reference to the plan in its wider sense, but they are no less applicable to the scheme in its more restricted form, since the two plans are in principle the same and only differ in degree. In conclusion, I wish to express the sincere appreciation of my Government for the courteous intention of the United States concerning the projected Chin-chou-Aigun line, and to say that in principle the Imperial Government will be prepared to participate in the enterprise with the other Powers interested in the question, but as it is questionable whether it is clearly distinguishable from the main subject, I will reserve this minor point for soparate attention when the necessary details regarding the matter are known.
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