This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
AFFAIRS OF CHINA.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[25313]
со
24838
[July 13.]
RECR
SECTION 2.
Pro 12 AUG 10
No. 1.
÷
Sir,
India Office to Foreign Office.~(Received July 13.)
India Office, July 12, 1910. WITH reference to your letter of the 4th July, 1910, and to previous corre- spondence as to the raid committed by the Chief of Tengkeng, I am directed by the Secretary of State for India to forward, for the information of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, copy of a letter from the Government of Burmah regarding the measures which are now thought necessary for the assertion of British claims on that section of the frontier.*
Viscount Morley would point out that His Majesty's Government have shown the utmost forbearance in dealing with Chinese pretensions on this matter. The Chinese Government were informed by His Majesty's Minister at Peking on the 1st May, 1906, that, failing their acceptance of the watershed boundary, the Burmah Government would be instructed to occupy and administer the disputed country without further negotiations. In spite, however, of continued obstruction on the part of the Chinese and of their encroachments at Hpala in 1908, and, more recently, in the neighbourhood of Pienma, no action has yet been taken to carry Sir E. Satow's warning into effect. The Chinese authorities have now replied to our protests regarding the Pienma raid by claiming that Pienma is situated in Chinese territory, and there seem good grounds for apprehending that their recent acts of aggression are merely a prelude to a deliberate attempt to effect the permanent occupation of territory on the British side of the watershed.
Lord Morley is of opinion that the watershed frontier is the only one that affords any hope of finality, and that the admission of the Chinese to territory in which their presence would be a menace to peace and order in the adjoining British districts would result in a serious addition to the responsibilities of the Burmah Government. Nevertheless, his Lordship was content to let matters rest, so long as there were no indications of an organised and systematic forward move on the part of the Chinese Government. In his opinion those indications are now unmistakable, and he is satisfied that the policy of inaction, hitherto followed by His Majesty's Government, cannot be maintained without risk of serious trouble in the near future. He would therefore submit, for Sir E. Grey's consideration, that the time has arrived when steps should be taken to carry out the intention declared by His Majesty's Government in 1906, and to extend effective administration over the whole tract to the west of the watershed.
For this purpose he would propose that such an expedition as that described in the Government of Burmah's letter should be sent into the district as soon as practicable after the cessation of the rains, to restore the status quo and to remove from British territory--as understood by us and explained in the past to China-any opposing forces or intruders who can be removed without serious difficulty. It is unnecessary at the present moment to settle the precise details, as to which the views of the Government of India are awaited, but Lord Morley approves generally of the draft instructions prepared by the Government of Burmah.
On the question of warning the Chinese Government, his Lordship, on further consideration, is disposed to agree with the views expressed by Mr. Max Müller in his despatch No. 196 of the 15th June last. The notification made to the Wai-wu Pa by Sir E. Satow on the 1st May, 1906, and brought to their notice again by Mr. Max Müller in his note of the 3rd June, is of itself a sufficient warning; and a further intimation of the intentions of His Majesty's Government might only encourage the Chinese to occupy the tract in force, thereby adding to the risk (which is not, in his opinion, otherwise serious) of collision with our own force. Lord Morley would therefore suggest that it will be sufficient if, when the expedition starts (or immediately before), the Chinese Government are informed that it is being sent to remove raiders and intruders, and to take such steps as are necessary to ensure the maintenance of the conditions prevailing prior to the Chinese incursions, without
* Government of Burmab, May 10, 1910.
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