CO129-445 - Public Offices - 1917 — Page 142

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pending the settlement of the Boundary Delimitation

question, he could not admit the claim of Portugal to

maritime jurisdiction in Macao waters, or even to juris- diction within the harbour. No reply has so far been received to a retort dated November 7th, pointing out that in terms of an agreement dated July 22nd, 1890, no Chinese Government vessets could exercise functions

south of a line draw midway between A-po-seac and Green

Island.

On the 31st of October the Civil Governor forward

ed a report by the Hsiangshan Magistrate, evidently the

outcome of instructions to endeavour to discover acts of

Portuguese violation of treaty, in which complaint was made of the anchoring of a Portuguese war-vessel off

Wanchai in Lappa and of the renting by Portuguese citi-

sens of houses of that island. To this answer was made

that Portuguese war-vessels never anchored outside of

Portuguese waters and that Portugal had always claimed right of residence on the land of Lapps, and that the

thereof could historic status of the letter only be altered by the

Boundary Commission. The Macao Governant, however, in my opinion incautiously, added that, even were the island

Chinese territory, Fortuguese had a right to reside there in terms of Article XVI of the Treaty of 1887, and this gave the Civil Governor the opportunity of pointing out in forcible language that no foreigners can leage land or houses away from a Treaty port, and that for them to do so is a distinct infraction of Treaty.

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