China will give the land, but the expenses of building and working shall be borne by France. The mandarins must see to the protection of the railway and the stock, but the repairs and maintenance of said road and its stock shall be at the expense of France. ARTICLE VIII. France may also, at the end of the line about On-pu, build landing stages, wharves, storehouses and hospitals, put up lights, buoys and signals. The nearest deep water anchorage to this terminus (territorial waters) shall be exclusively reserved for French and Chinese ships of war, those of the latter nationality only when neutral. The present convention shall come into force at once. It shall be ratified at once by the Emperor of China, and when it shall have been ratified by the President of the French Republic, the exchange of ratifications shall take place at within the briefest delay. Done at Peking in eight copies, of which four are in the French language and four in Chinese, the 1898. CONVENTION BETWEEN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND CHINA RESPECTING AN EXTENSION OF HONG KONG TERRITORY.1 Signed at Peking, June 9, 1898; Ratifications exchanged at London, August 6, 1898. Whereas it has for many years past been recognized that an extension of Hong Kong territory is necessary for the proper defence and protection of the colony, It has now been agreed between the Governments of Great Britain and China that the limits of British territory shall be enlarged under lease to the extent indicated generally on the annexed map.2 The exact boundaries shall be hereafter fixed when proper surveys have been made by officials appointed by the two governments. The term of this lease shall be ninety-nine years. 1 Rockhill, p. 58. 2 Omitted. It is at the same time agreed that within the city of Kowloon the Chinese officials now stationed there shall continue to exercise jurisdiction except so far as may be inconsistent with the military requirements for the defence of Hong Kong. Within the remainder of the newlyleased territory Great Britain shall have sole jurisdiction. Chinese officials and people shall be allowed as heretofore to use the road from Kowloon to Hsinan. It is further agreed that the existing landing-place near Kowloon city shall be reserved for the convenience of Chinese men-of-war, merchant and passenger vessels, which may come and go and lie there at their pleasure; and for the convenience of movement of the officials and people within the city. When hereafter China constructs a railway to the boundary of the Kowloon territory under British control, arrangements shall be discussed. It is further understood that there will be no expropriation or expulsion of the inhabitants of the district included within the extension, and that if land is required for public offices, fortifications, or the like official purposes, it shall be bought at a fair price. If cases of extradition of criminals occur, they shall be dealt with in accordance with the existing treaties between Great Britain and China and the Hong Kong Regulations. The area leased to Great Britain as shown on the annexed map, includes the waters of Mirs Bay and Deep Bay, but it is agreed that Chinese vessels of war, whether neutral or otherwise, shall retain the right to use those waters. This convention shall come into force on the first day of July, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, being the thirteenth day of the fifth moon of the twenty-fourth year of Kuang Hsü. It shall be ratified by the sovereigns of the two countries, and the ratifications shall be exchanged in London as soon as possible. In witness whereof the undersigned, duly authorized thereto by their respective governments, have signed the present agreement. Done at Peking in quadruplicate (four copies in English and four in Chinese) the ninth day of June, in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, being the twenty-first day of the fourth moon of the twenty-fourth year of Kuang Hsü. (L. S.) (L. S.) CLAUDE M. MACDONALD. (Seal of the Chinese Plenipotentiary.) CONVENTION BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND CHINA FOR THE LEASE OF WEI-HAI WEI.1 Signed at Peking, July 1, 1898. In order to provide Great Britain with a suitable naval harbour in North China and for the better protection of British commerce in the neighbouring seas, the Government of His Majesty the Emperor of China agree to lease to the Government of Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, Wei-hai Wei, in the province of Shantung and the adjacent waters, for so long a period as Port Arthur shall remain in the occupation of Russia. The territory leased shall comprise the Island of Liu-kung and all other islands in the Bay of Wei-hai Wei, and a belt of land 10 English miles wide along the entire coast line of the Bay of Wei-hai Wei. Within the above-mentioned territory leased Great Britain shall have sole jurisdiction. Great Britain shall have, in addition, the right to erect fortifications, station troops, or take any other measures necessary for defensive purposes, at any points on or near the coast of the region east of the meridian 121° 40′ east of Greenwich, and to acquire on equitable compensation within that territory such sites as may be necessary for water supply, communications, and hospitals. Within that zone Chinese administration will not be interfered with, but no troops other than Chinese or British shall be allowed therein. It is also agreed that within the walled city of Wei-hai Wei, Chinese officials shall continue to exercise jurisdiction except so far as may be inconsistent with naval and military requirements for the defence of the territory leased. It is further agreed that Chinese vessels of war, whether neutral or otherwise, shall retain the right to use the waters herein leased to Great Britain. It is further understood that there will be no expropriation or expulsion of the inhabitants of the territory herein specified, and that if land is required for fortifications, public offices, or any official or public purpose, it shall be bought at a fair price. This convention shall come into force on signature. It shall be ratified by the sovereigns of the two countries, and the ratifications shall be exchanged in London as soon as possible. 1 Rockhill, p. 60. In witness whereof the undersigned, duly authorized thereto by their respective governments, have signed the present agreement. CLAUDE M. MACDONALD. PRINCE CH'ING, Senior Member of the Tsung-li Yamén. LIAO SHOU-HÊNG, President of Board of Punishments. Done at Peking in quadruplicate (four copies in English and four in Chinese) the 1st day of July in the year of our Lord 1898, being the 13th day of the 5th moon of the 24th year of Kuang-hsü. IDENTIC NOTES EXCHANGED BETWEEN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND RUSSIA WITH REGARD TO THEIR RESPECTIVE RAILWAY INTERESTS IN CHINA.1 April 28, 1899. Sir C. Scott to Count Mouravieff. The undersigned, British Ambassador, duly authorized to that effect, has the honour to make the following declaration to His Excellency Count Mouravieff, Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs. Great Britain and Russia, animated by a sincere desire to avoid in China all cause of conflict, on questions where their interests meet, and taking into consideration the economic and geographical gravitation of certain parts of that Empire, have agreed as follows: 1. Great Britain engages not to seek for her own account, or on behalf of British subjects or of others, any railway concessions to the north of the Great Wall of China, and not to obstruct, directly or indirectly, applications for railway concessions in that region supported by the Russian Government. 2. Russia, on her part, engages not to seek for her own account, or on behalf of Russian subjects or of others, any railway concessions in the basin of the Yangtze and not to obstruct, directly or indirectly, applications for railway concessions in that region supported by the British Government. The two contracting parties, having nowise in view to infringe in any way the sovereign rights of China or existing treaties, will not fail to 1 Rockhill, p. 183. communicate to the Chinese Government the present arrangement, which, by averting all cause of complications between them, is of a nature to consolidate peace in the Far East, and to serve the primordial interests of China herself. St. Petersburg, April 28, 1898. CHARLES S. SCOTT. Sir C. Scott to Count Mouravieff. In order to complete the notes exchanged this day respecting the partition of spheres for concessions for the construction and working of railways in China, it has been agreed to record in the present additional note the agreement arrived at with regard to the line ShanhaikuanNewchwang, for the construction of which a loan has been already contracted by the Chinese Government with the Shanghai-Hongkong Bank, acting on behalf of the British and Chinese Corporation. The general arrangement established by the above-mentioned notes is not to infringe in any way the rights acquired under the said loan. contract, and the Chinese Government may appoint both an English engineer and an European accountant to supervise the construction of the line in question, and the expenditure of the money appropriated to it. But it remains understood that this fact cannot be taken as constituting a right of property or foreign control, and that the line in question is to remain a Chinese line, under the control of the Chinese Government, and cannot be mortgaged or alienated to a non-Chinese company. As regards the branch line from Siaoheishan to Sinminting, in addition to the aforesaid restrictions, it has been agreed that it is to be constructed by China herself, who may permit European not necessarily British engineers to periodically inspect it, and to verify and certify that the work is being properly executed. The present special agreement is naturally not to interfere in any way with the right of the Russian Government to support, if it thinks fit, applications of Russian subjects or establishments for concessions for railways, which, starting frora the main Manchurian line in a southwesterly direction, would traverse the region in which the Chinese line terminating at Sinminting and Newchwang is to be constructed. CHARLES S. SCOTT.2 St. Petersburg, April 28, 1899. 2 The same, mutatis mutandis, was sent the same day by Count Mouravieff, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, to Sir Charles Scott. |