CO129-373 - Public Offices - 1910 — Page 9

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

AFFAIRS OF CHINA.

[August &C O

CONFIDENTIAL.

[28675]

No. 1.

SECTION 2, 2.913

RECE

REGE & SEP 10

Mr. Max Müller to Sir Edward Grey,—(Received August 8.)

(No. 233. Confidential.) Sir,

Peking, July 19, 1910. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch No. 188 of the 30th May, by which you instructed me to approach my American and Japanese colleagues in regard to the possibility of jointly urging on the Chinese Government an extension of the Shanghai international settlement.

I took an early opportunity of mentioning the subject to Mr. Calhoun, the American Minister, but found him very lukewarm in regard to it. I told him that I understood that both he and his consul-general at Shanghai had received instructions to support the request of the Shanghai municipal council for such extension as would seem to meet the requirements of the present situation. He replied that he had received instructions on the subject, but his opinion was that the Chinese arguments against the extension were very strong, which is undoubtedly the case, and that the movement was largely influenced by the desire of land speculators to see the land which they had purchased cheap enhanced in value through incorporation within the boundaries of the settlement, in which contention there is admittedly much truth, Moreover, he had not yet been able to make up his mind whether the arguments put forward in favour of the extension, e.g., sanitation, police, &c., were sufficiently strong to warrant us in taking up a determined attitude. However, when I finally told him that I had been instructed to ascertain how far he was prepared to work with His Majesty's Legation with a view to obtaining an extension from the Chinese Govern- ment, he replied that he had not had time to study the question, but promised to do so, and speak to me about it again. As Mr. Calhoun left à few days later for Peitaiho for the summer, there is not much chance of getting him to take any joint action in the matter till after his return, even if there were any immediate advantage in such a step. I shall not fail to bring the matter to Mr. Calhoun's notice again.

A few days ago a conversation which I had with the Japanese Minister as to certain negotiations proceeding at Mukden in regard to the limits of the treaty port arca there gave me an opportunity of sounding Mr. Ijuin as to his views on the Shanghai settlement extension question. Mr. Ijuin evidently has doubts as to the necessity of supporting the request of the municipal council, who demand, roughly speaking, the incorporation of the Paoshan and Chapei districts lying between the present boundary and the line of the Shanghai-Nanking Railway. His personal conviction, he stated, was that nothing short of force would get the Chinese Govern- ment to consider any such request, unless, as has so often happened in China, some occurrence should put it in our power to bring pressure to bear on the Chinese Government without the actual employment of coercive measures. Personally I doubt whether, under present circumstances in China, we should be able, even with the unanimous and whole-hearted support of the foreign Governments, to induce the Chinese Government willingly to accept this scheme. As it is, however, with many of the legations, such as the German and Austrian, secretly, if not openly inimical to the proposal, I feel that the proper course for us to pursue is to keep the question open in the hope that some incident may arise which will put it in our power to force through the proposed extension in the manner indicated by Mr. Ijuin.

In my despatch No. 139 of the 4th May I reported that I had suggested to my colleagues, in a minute on the last note from the Wai-wu Pu of the 23rd March, that we should, as a first step, enquire of the consular body at Shanghai whether any practical steps have been taken by the Chinese Government towards the improvement of the sanitation and policing of the Chapei district. The question came up for discussion at a meeting of the diplomatic body on the 21st May. Seeing that it was impossible to obtain unanimous consent to any further representations to the Wai-wu Pu, I had to be contented with the acceptance of my proposal that the consular body should be requested to report as to the truth of the statements of the Wai-wu Pu in regard to the improvements in the sanitary and policing arrangements in Chapei. I have the

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