CO129-416 - Public Offices - 1914 — Page 432

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(18186/14).

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Governor of Hongkong of April 3rd. to have been granted to

the French Syndicate appears to be the fulfilment of an under-

taking given by the Chinese Goverment to the French Gov-

ernment in 1898, that the French only should have the right

to construct all railways to the West River having Pakhoi as

their starting point.

I am to add that the allusion in Sir J. Jordan's tele-

gram to the 1896 agreement refers to the Anglo-French agree-

ment of January 15th, 1896, according to Article IV of which

the two countries agreed to endeavour to persuade the Chinese

Government to allow their nationals to share in concessions

which either might obtain in the Provinces of Yunnan and

Szechuan. As stated by Sir J. Jordan the French Government

have recently in connexion with certain negotiations now

proceeding, appeared to consider the agreement as obsolete,

but as Southern Yunnan is still regarded as being a French

sphere of interest, Sir J. Jordan evidently anticipates

possible objection from the French Government to a conces-

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sion