ANNAM. 



29 



fore May 30, earlier dates being fixed for the 

 beginning of the evacuation and the cessa- 

 tion of hostilities, the commanders on either 

 side who first received the order to discontinue 

 hostilities to be charged with the duty of noti- 

 fying the nearest enemy; and (4) that both 

 parties agree to abstain from sending troops or 

 munitions to Formosa during the armistice, 

 and upon the signing of the final treaty France 

 will desist from searches for contraband of 

 war on the high seas, and China will reopen 

 her treaty ports to French commerce. 



The preliminaries of peace were signed at 

 Paris on the night of April 3 by the Chinese 

 plenipotentiary, Mr. Campbell, and by M. Ribot 

 on behalf of the French Government. They 

 were at once ratified by the Tsung-li-Yamen, 

 and the decree of the evacuation of Tonquin 

 was published in the Peking official gazette. 



In the negotiations the principal difficulty 

 that arose was in reference to the question of 

 China's suzerainty over Annam. In the final 

 treaty the matter was treated with a vague 

 phrase, which left the sentimental and histori- 

 cal claim of China precisely where it was, while 

 giving France a free hand in the establishment 

 of her protectorate. 



The Treaty of Peace. The new Treaty of 

 Tientsin was executed June 9, 1885, between 

 M. Paten6tre, the French plenipotentiary, and 

 the Governor of Pechili and principal Secretary 

 of State of the Chinese Empire, Li-Hung-Chang, 

 assisted by Si-Tchen, President of the Ministry 

 of Justice and member of the Council for For- 

 eign Affairs, and by Teng-Tcheng-Sieon, mem- 

 ber of the Council of State Ceremonial. The 

 treaty was based on the convention of Tientsin 

 of June 11, 1884, which was ratified by impe- 

 rial decree April, 10, 1885. The first article 

 provides for the restoration and maintenance 

 of order on the border between China and Ton- 

 quin. France undertakes to disperse the bands 

 of freebooters and adventurers, and to prevent 

 them from forming again, but promises not to 

 cross the Chinese frontier. China promises to 

 expel the bands that take refuge in her prov- 

 inces, and to disperse those that seek to form 

 in her territory for the purpose of introducing 

 disorder in Tonquin, but debars herself from 

 sending troops into Tonquin. Provisions for 

 the extradition of malefactors will be the sub- 

 ject of a special convention. Chinese colonists 

 and old soldiers living peaceably in Tonquin 

 and devoting themselves to industrial pursuits 

 will enjoy the same security as persons pro- 

 tected by France. In Article II China prom- 

 ises not to interfere with any treaties or con- 

 ventions concluded or to be concluded directly 

 between France and Annam. The relations 

 between China and Annam will be of a nature 

 not infringing on the dignity of the Chinese 

 Empire, and not giving rise to any violations 

 of the treaty. Article III provides for demar- 

 kating andmonumenting the boundary between 

 Tonquin and China by a joint commission with- 

 in six months after the signing of the treaty. 



In case of disagreement as to the sites of the 

 stones, or as to alterations to be made in the 

 existing boundary in the interest of both coun-' 

 tries, the question was to be referred to their 

 respective Governments. Article IV stipulates 

 that Frenchmen, or persons under French pro- 

 tection, and foreign inhabitants of Tonquin, 

 must provide themselves with passports, to be 

 furnished by the Chinese frontier authorities 

 upon the application of the French authorities, 

 before entering China from Tonquin, and Chi- 

 nese subjects crossing the land frontier into 

 Tonquin must procure passports in like manner 

 from the French authorities. For Chinese sub- 

 jects returning from Tonquin a permit of the 

 Chinese authorities is sufficient. Article V 

 declares that export and import trade shall be 

 permitted to French merchants and French pro- 

 teges, and to Chinese merchants on the frontier 

 between China and Tonquin, to be conducted 

 through certain points that should be subse- 

 quently fixed, and of which the number and 

 the selection should depend upon the impor- 

 tance and the direction of the traffic, keeping in 

 view the Chinese internal regulations. Two 

 such points were to be established under all 

 circumstances on the Chinese frontier, one of 

 them above Lao-Kai and the other beyond 

 Langson. French merchants may settle there 

 under the same conditions as in the treaty 

 ports. The Chinese Government shall estab- 

 lish custom-houses there, and the Republic 

 may support consuls there with the same 

 privileges and attributes as are possessed by 

 agents of that class in the open ports. The 

 Emperor of China may, on his side, with the 

 agreement of the French Government, name 

 consuls in the principal towns of Tonquin. 

 Article VI provides for the formulation by joint 

 commissioners, within three months after the 

 signature of the treaty, of regulations under 

 which trade may be carried on between Ton- 

 quin and the Chinese provinces of Yunnan, 

 Kuang-Si, and Canton. In the overland trade 

 between Tonquin and the provinces of Yun- 

 nan and Kuang-Si merchandise was to be sub- 

 ject to lower duties than those laid down in the 

 existing tariff of foreign commerce, but the re- 

 duced tariff would not apply to the trade with 

 Canton. Arms and other munitions and ma- 

 terials of war would be subject to the regula- 

 tions enforced by each state within its terri- 

 tories. The exportation and importation of 

 opium would be controlled by special arrange- 

 ments which would appear in the commercial 

 regulations to be settled upon. Commerce by 

 sea between China and Annam was also to be 

 the subject of a special regulation. Provision- 

 ally there would be no innovation on the exist- 

 ing practice. Article VII stated the intention 

 of the Government of the Republic to construct 

 roads and railroads in Tonquin in order to de- 

 velop under advantageous conditions the com- 

 mercial and neighborly relations which it is 

 the object of the treaty to re-establish between 

 France and China, and expressed the purpose 



