210
TREATY BETWEEN FRANCE AND CHINA.
it shall please the Emperor of China to accredit to His Majesty the Emperor of the French, shall be received in France with all the honours and prerogatives which the diplomatic agents of other nations accredited to the court of His Majesty the Emperor of the French enjoy.
Art. III.The official communications of the French diplomatic and consular agents with the Chinese authorities shall be written in French, but shall be accom- panied, to facilitate the service, by a Chinese translation, as exact as possible, until such time as the Imperial Government at Peking, having interpreters speaking and writing French correctly, diplomatic correspondence shall be conducted in this language by the French agents and in Chinese by the officers of the empire. It is agreed that until then, and in case of difference in the interpretation, in re- ference to the French text and Chinese text of the clauses heretofore agreed upon in the conventions made by common accord, it shall always be the original text and not the translation which shall be held correct. This provision applies to the present treaty, and in the communications between the authorities of the two countries it shall always be the original text and not the translation which shall be held correct.
Art. IV. Henceforth the official correspondence between the authorities and the officers of the two countries shall be regulated according to their respective ranks and conditions and upon the basis of the most absolute reciprocity. This correspondence shall take place between the high French officers and high Chinese officers, in the capital or elsewhere, by dispatch or communication; between the French sub- ordinate officers and the bigh authorities in the rovinces, on the part of the former by statement, and on the part of the latter by de aration.
Between the officers of lower rank of the two nations, as above provided, on the footing of a perfect equality.
Merchants and generally all persons not having an official character shall on both sides use the form of representation in all documents addressed to or intended for the notice of the respective authorities.
Whenever à French subject shall have recourse to the Chinese authority, his representation shall first be submitted to the Consul, who, if it appears to him reasonable and properly addressed, shall forward it; if it be otherwise, the Consul shall cause the tenour to be modified or refuse to transmit it. The Chinese, on their part, when they have to address a consulate, shall follow a similar course towards the Chinese authority, who shall act in the same manner.
Art. V. His Majesty the Emperor of the French may appoint Consuls or Con- sular Agents in the coast and river ports of the Chinese empire named in Article VI. of the present treaty to conduct the business between the Chinese authorities and French merchants and subjects and to see to the strict observance of the stipulated rules. These officers shall be treated with the consideration and regard which are due to them. Their relations with the authorities of the place of their residence shall be established or the footing of the most perfect equality. If they shall have to complain of the proceedings of the said authorities, they may address the superior authority of the province direct, and shall immediately advise the Minister Plenipo- tentiary of the Emperor thereof.
In case of the absence of the French Consul, captains and merchants shall be at liberty to have recourse to the intervention of the Consul of a friendly power, or, if this be impossible, they shall have recourse to the chief of the Customs, who shall advise as to the means of assuring to the said captains and merchants the benefits of the present treaty.
Art. VI.-Experience having demonstrated that the opening of new ports to foreign commerce is one of the necessities of the age, it has been agreed that the ports of Kiung-chow and Chao-chow in the province of Kwangtung, Taiwan and Tamsui in the island of Formosa (province of Fohkien), Tang chow in the pro- vince of Shantung, and Nanking in the province of Kiangsu, shall enjoy the same privileges as Canton, Shanghai, Ningpo, Amoy, and Foochow.
Amoy, and Foochow. With regard to
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.