Directory_and_Chronicle_1902 — Page 196

AGREEMENT BETWEEN RUSSIA AND CHINA

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with Hsu Tajên so soon as possible after the signature of the present treaty, and embodied in a separate treaty. Once these limits have been determined, all land held by Chinese within such limits, as well as the adjacent waters, shall be held by

Russia alone on lease.

Art. III.—The duration of the lease shall be 25 years from the day this treaty is signed, but may be extended by mutual agreement between Russia and China.

Art. IV. The control of all military forces in the territory leased by Russia and of all naval forces in the adjacent seas, as well as of the civil officials in it, shall be vested in one high Russian official, who shall, however, be designated by some title other than Governor-General (Tsung-tu) or Governor (Hsün-fu). All Chinese military forces shall, without exception, be withdrawn from the territory, but it shall remain optional with the ordinary Chinese inhabitants either to remain or to go, and no coercion shall be used towards them in this matter. Should they remain, any Chinese charged with a criminal offence shall be harded over to the nearest Chinese official to be dealt with according to Art, VIII. of the Russo-Chinese treaty of 1860.

Ait. V. To the north of the territory leased shall be a zone, the extent of which shall be arranged at St. Petersburg between Hsü Ta-jêu and the Russian Foreign Office. Jurisdiction over this zone shall be vested in China, but China may not quarter troops in it except with the previous consent of Russia.

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Art. VI.-The two nations agree that Port Arthur shall be a naval port for the sole use of Russian and Chinese inen-of-war, and be considered as an unopened port so far as the naval and mercantile vessels of other nations are concerned. regards Ta-lien-wan, one portion of the harbour shall be reserved exclusively for Russian and Chinese men-of-war, just like Port Arthur, but the remainder shall be a commercial port freely open to the merchant vessels of all countries.

Art. VII.-Port Arthur and Ta-lien-wan are the points in the territory leased most important for Russian military purposes. Russia shall, therefore, be at liberty to erect, at her own expense, forts and build barracks and provide defences at such places as she desires.

Art. VIII.-China agrees that the procedure sanctioned in 1896 regarding the construction of railroads by the board of the Eastern China Railway shall, from the date of the signature of this treaty, be extended so as to include the construction of a branch line to Ta-lien-wan, or, if necessary, in view of the interests involved, of a branch line to the most suitable point on the coast between Newchwang and the Yalu River. Further, the agreement entered into in September, 1896, between the Chinese Government and the Russo-Chinese Bank shall apply with equal strength to this branch line. The direction of this branch line and the places it shall touch shall be arranged between Hsü Ta-jên and the board of the Eastern Railroads. The construction of this line shall never, however, be made a ground for encroaching on the sovereignty or integrity of China.

Art. IX.—This treaty shall take full force and effect from the date it is signed, but the ratifications shall be exchanged in St. Petersburg.

Signed March 27, 1898.

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