CO129-371 - Public Offices - 1910 — Page 575

[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.] 572

CHINA RAILWAYS,

CONFIDENTIAL

[11357]

No. 1.

[April 4.]

SECTION 3.!

0.0. 12550

R 28 APR 10

Sir C. MacDonald to Sir Edward Grey. (Received April 4.)

(No. 60. Confidential.) Sir,

Tokyo, March 4, 1910.

I HAVE the honour to report that, in the absence of His Majesty's Ambassador in Formosa, Count Komura sent for me this afternoon to communicate to me the statement he had just made to the Russian Ambassador regarding the attitude of the Japanese Government on the Russian proposal for a concession for a line from Kalgan to Kiakhta.

His Excellency said that he had told the Russian Ambassador that not only would the Japanese Government not oppose the Russian proposal, but would give it their moral support, on the understanding that the line in question was to be constructed on the basis of international co-operation." His Excellency had further stipulated that the support of the Japanese Government was not to prejudice the attitude of that Government in the Chinchow-Aigun Railway project, supposing the Chinese Govern- ment refused to grant a concession for the Kalgan-Kiakhta line.

I enquired whether this latter condition meant that the Japanese Government would claim to participate in the construction of which ever line was built. Count Komura said that this was so. I then asked his Excellency whether he knew how the American Government viewed the Russian proposal. He replied that he had put the same question to the American Ambassador that afternoon, but Mr. O'Brien had been unable to enlighten him on the subject.

Count Komura then went on to say that considerable time would probably elapse before either of these railway projects came to anything. Possibly they might not materialise at all. The Japanese Government did not care in the least. They had nothing to lose if neither of the lines were constructed. The only country which would have trouble in the matter would be China, and this thought seemed to cause his Excellency a certain amount of slightly malicious satisfaction.

I am forwarding a copy of this despatch to His Majesty's Minister at Peking by safe opportunity.

I have, &c. (For His Majesty's Ambassador),

HORACE RUMBOLD.

[2706 d~3]