182
PEKING CONVENTION, 1860.
China, will, by decree, command the high authorities of every province to proclaim throughout their jurisdictions that Chinese, in choosing to take service in British Colonies or other parts beyond sea, are at perfect liberty to enter into engagements with British subjects for that purpose, and to ship themselves and their families on board any British vessels at the open ports of China; also, that the high authorities aforesaid shall, in concert with Her Britannic Majesty's Representative in China, frame such regulations for the protection of Chinese emigrating as above as the circumstances of the different open ports may demand.
Art. VI. With a view to the maintenance of law and order in and about the harbour of Hongkong, His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of China agrees to cede to Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, Her heirs and successors, to have and to hold as a dependency of Her Britannic Majesty's Colony of Hongkong, that portion of the township of Kowloon in the province of Kwang-tung, of which a lease was granted in perpetuity to Harry Smith Parkes, Esquire, Companion of the Bath, a Member of the Allied Commission at Canton, on behalf of Her Britannic Majesty's Government, by Lau Tsung-kwang, Governor-General of the Two Kwang.
It is further declared that the lease in question is hereby cancelled, that the claims of any Chinese to property on the said portion of Kowloon shall be duly investigated by a mixed Commission of British and Chinese officers, and that compensation shall be awarded by the British Government to any Chinese whose claim shall be by that said Commission estab:ished, should his removal be deemed Lecessary by the British Government.
Art. VII. It is agreed that the provisions of the Treaty of one thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, except in so far as these are modified by the present Convention, shall without delay come into operation as soon as the ratifications of the Treaty aforesaid shall have been exchanged. It is further agreed, that no separate ratification of the present Convention shall be necessary, but that it shall take effect from the date of its signature, and be equally binding with the Treaty above mentioned on the high contracting parties.
Art. VIII.-It is agreed that, as soon as the ratifications of the Treaty of the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight shall have been exchanged, His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of China shall, by decree, command the high authorities in the capital, and in the provinces, to print and publish the afore said Treaty and the present Convention for general information.
Art. IX. It is agreed that, as soon as the Convention shall have been signed, the ratification of the Treaty of the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight shall have been exchanged, and an Imperial Decree respecting the publication of the said Convention and Treaty shall have been promulgated, as provided for by Article VIII. of this Convention, Chusau shall be évacuated by Her Britannic Majesty's troops there stationed, and Her Britannic Majesty's force now before Peking shall commence its march towards the city of Tientsin, the forts of Taku, the north coast of Shan-tung, and city of Conton, at each or all of waich places, it shall be at the option of Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, to retain a force, until the indemnity of eight millions of taels, guaranteed in Article III., shall have been paid.
Done at Peking, in the Court of the Board of Ceremonies, on the twenty-fourth day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundrel and sixty.
(L.S.) ELGIN AND KINCARDINE.
Seal of Chinese
Plenipotentiary
Signature of
Chinese
Plenipotentiary.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.