IL..
N° SECRET.
sir,
103
GOVERNMENT HOUSE,
HONGKONG. e27th June,1926.
W
17
hola ut barra.
There seems to be little doubt that China is once
again, for a time at least, breaking into pieces and that in the
process of disintegration old lines of cleavage are reappearing.
The Manchu Empire, which fell in 1911, embraced when at its greatest extent not only the Eighteen Provinces of China proper within the Great Wall and the three Manchurian provinces, which the Manchu conquerors added to China proper much as the Norman conquerors added Normandy to the realm of England, but it also included Mongolia, Chinese Turkestan, Tibet, Nepal, Burma,Tongking, Annam and Korea. However, the break-up of this vast empire had begun even before the downfall of the Manchu dynasty: and it may
assist you in considering the recommendations which I desire to
place before you, if I set out briefly the nature and extent of the disintegration which has actually occurred.
2.
The King of Korea was formerly a vassal of the
Emperor of China; but the Emperor of Japan also claimed his allegiance. By the treaty of Kokwa, concluded with Japan in 1876, the independence of Korea was acknowledged; but China, though con- senting to Korea's conclusion of this and other treaties with
foreign powers, inconsistently continued to claim suzerainty. Eventually, however, in November 1905, the Korean Government gave Japan the control of its foreign affairs, and the Japanese Govern-
RIGHT HONOURABLE
LIEUTENANT COLONEL L.C.M.S. AMERY, M.P.,
&C..
*0..
&c.
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