138 



CHINA. 



for an indemnity if the protectorate over Ton- 

 quin were acknowledged and the Chinese gar- 

 risons withdrawn ; but that, in the contrary 

 event, she would demand an enormous sum and 

 occupy Formosa as a guarantee. The Regent, 

 overruling the opposition of the Tsungli Ya- 

 men, authorized Li to conclude a preliminary 

 treaty with Captain Fournier, who had re- 

 ceived full powers from his government. A 

 draught convention was arranged on the 9th 

 of May, and on the llth a treaty was signed by 

 the plenipotentiaries at Tientsin, subject to the 

 ratification of the two governments. The Chi- 

 nese representative conceded far more than the 

 French in the earlier stages of the controversy 

 had demanded, abandoning not only the suze- 

 rainty over Annam, but the neutral zone, and 

 throwing open to French commerce the south- 

 ern provinces of China. It was orally stipu- 

 lated that China should not be required to 

 renounce the suzerainty openly, and that the 

 French should in their acts respect the sus- 

 ceptibilities of the Chinese people in this re- 

 gard. The treaty was peculiarly worded so as 

 to carry the impression of mutuality, although 

 the advantages were all on the side of France. 

 Article I bound France not only to respect the 

 southern frontier of China, bordering on Ton- 

 quin, but to guard it against attack by other 

 nations. Article II bound China, in return for 

 this guarantee of good neighborship, to with- 

 draw the Tonquin garrisons, and to respect 

 present and future treaties made directly be- 

 tween France and the Court of Annam. Ar- 

 ticle III engaged China, in consideration of the 

 waiver of an indemnity, to agree to free com- 

 mercial intercourse between France and An- 

 nam on the one hand and China on the other 

 along the whole southern frontier bordering on 

 Tonquin, subject to regulations and tariffs to 

 be concluded on conditions most favorable for 

 French trade. Article IV pledged France to 

 draught her final treaty with Annam in lan- 

 guage not derogatory to the prestige of China. 

 Article V provided for the negotiation of a 

 definitive treaty, on the bases established in 

 this preliminary convention, in three months. 

 The natural frontiers of Langson, Caobang, and 

 Laokai were taken as the boundary of Tonquin. 

 The Marquis Tseng was recalled by his Gov- 

 ernment after the defeat at Bacninh. Li- Fong- 

 Pao, Chinese Minister at Berlin, proceeded to 

 Paris as interim representative. The treaty of 

 Tientsin pledged China to recall her garrisons 

 immediately. The time agreed upon was be- 

 tween the 6th and the 26th of June. An angry 

 agitation was started in China, in condemna- 

 tion of the treaty and against Li Hung Chang. 

 While the Tsungli Yamen were deliberating 

 about the ratification of the convention, and 

 ready to seize any pretext for its rejection, the 

 French hastened to take advantage of the situa- 

 tion and to carry out its executory provisions. 

 They demanded of the Regents of Annam the 

 imperial seal. They refused to deliver it up, 

 declaring that it would be an act of treason, 



but agreed to burn it, which was done in the 

 presence of M. Patenotre when the new treaty 

 of Hu6 was signed, June 6. This was regarded 

 by the Chinese as a violation of the treaty, be- 

 ing an act calculated to impair the prestige and 

 dignity of China. At the very date set for the 

 withdrawal of the Chinese troops, General Mil- 

 lot sent a column under Colonel Dugenne to 

 occupy Langson. The clause specifying dates 

 for the evacuation, according to Li's account, 

 was not agreed to by him, but upon his firm 

 objections was struck out of the treaty by Cap- 

 tain Fournier, who countersigned the erasure 

 with his initials. This statement was denied 

 by the French plenipotentiary. Colonel Du- 

 genne appeared before Langson the 22d of 

 June and demanded the evacuation of the town. 

 The Chinese commanders replied that they 

 knew of the treaty, but could not surrender 

 the fortress without orders from their supe- 

 riors ; they therefore begged the French com- 

 mander to wait until instructions could arrive 

 from Peking. Colonel Dugenne nevertheless, 

 though contrary to General Millot's commands, 

 which were to await instructions if resistance 

 was encountered, pressed forward to take pos- 

 session of the citadel. Beyond Bac Le the 

 French troops ran against the Chinese in force, 

 posted where their fire would prove most ef- 

 fective. In the engagements that followed, 

 the Chinese lost far more troops than the 

 French (see TONQUIN). The Bac Le affair 

 changed the course of events. The French 

 Government characterized the attack as a per- 

 fidious ambush, and demanded reparation in 

 the form of an indemnity of 250,000,000 francs, 

 besides the immediate withdrawal of the gar- 

 risons. The Tsungli Yamen, which wavered 

 constantly in its attitude, at first welcomed the 

 rupture and did not disavow the action of the 

 commanders at Langson. It refused to evacu- 

 ate the frontier towns before the signature of 

 the definitive treaty. Upon receiving the French 

 demands, presented in an ultimatum by Vi- 

 comte de Semall6, charge d'affaires^ on the 

 12th of July, the Chinese Government again 

 changed its attitude and ordered the with- 

 drawal of the garrisons at once. The French 

 thereupon lowered their demand to 80,000,000 

 francs, and then offered to accept a sum equal 

 to the compensation to be awarded to the 

 wounded and the families of the slain, and the 

 extra military expenses entailed by the Bac Le 

 attack, in admission of the principle of an in- 

 demnity. China refused to accede to the prin- 

 ciple, denying that there was an ambush or a 

 breach of treaty engagements. On the 19th of 

 July the Tsungli Yamen announced the ap- 

 pointment of the Viceroy of Nanking as pleni- 

 potentiary to conclude a definitive treaty with 

 M. Paten6tre, the French envoy to China and 

 Annam, and informed the French Government 

 that the indemnity question had been submitted 

 to the powers. The Chinese treaty with the 

 United States binds China in the event of in- 

 sult or hostility from any power to appeal to 



