CHINA. 



any foreign intrusion in Korea and not to impede 

 the commcn-e and industry of each other's subjects 

 in that country. 



I*a>* of >V-i Hal -Wei to England.-In the 

 nirly part .f the year the British Government an- 

 n, .uii.nl a pottey oi linn o|.|Msition to territorial 

 occu|iition that would lead to the dismemberment 

 ..f tli.- Chinese Empire, and declared that it would 

 defend. \cn at the awt of war, Sir Michael Hicks- 



the Chancellor of the Exchequer, said, the 

 n|-n iliHir" I iy which freedom of access for the 

 commerce <>f '(ireat liritain and other nations 

 should IK- preserved in China under the Treaty of 



a. When Germany imposed on China the 

 onditioii that (Jermiin engineers should have the 



nee in luiildiu.tr railroads and working mines 

 in Shantung. I*ml Salisbury demanded equality of 

 treatment f.-r British subjects under the treaties. 

 <>n Feb. 'J." Sir Claude Mae Donald telegraphed that 

 Government was ready to lease Wei- 

 Uni-Wci to (Jreat Britain. Lord Salisbury an- 

 swered that the policy pursued by the British 



.Micnt at that time aimed at discouraging 

 any alienation of Chinese territory, and that it was 

 premature to discuss such a lease unless the exist- 



Mtion should be materially altered by the 

 action of other |>owers. On March 25, after offer- 

 ing a pledge to Kussia not to occupy any port in 

 tin- (Jiilf of Pechili so long as other powers pur- 

 sued the same policy, and after Russia, in defiance 

 _rave objectio'ns. persisted in demanding Port 

 Arthur, as well as Talienwan, the British Govern- 

 ment made a formal demand for the lease of the 

 military harbor of Wei-Hai-Wei upon its evacuation 

 by the Japanese. In order not to disturb the good 

 relations with Germany, the spontaneous assurance 

 was given that the interests of Germany in the 

 Shantung peninsula would not be interfered with. 

 On April 1 the Japanese Government expressed 

 concurrence in the lease of Wei-Hai-Wei to Great 

 liritain after evacuation. On April 2 the Tsung-li- 

 Vanien consented to lease Wei-Hai-Wei to Great 

 Britain on the terms on which Port Arthur was 

 leased to Russia, the lease to continue until Russia 

 should cease to occupy the Leaotong peninsula. 

 The evacuation by the Japanese army of occupation 

 was completed on May 23. The place was taken 

 ov.-r l,y the Chinese, who on May 24 delivered the 

 arsenal and fortress to the British. The territory 

 leased comprises Liukimg and the other islands of 

 the bay and a belt of land, 10 miles broad, along its 

 i-ntire const line. In addition, Great Britain has 

 the right to erect fortifications, station troops, or 



her measures necessary for defensive pur- 

 poses at any points on or near the coast east of 120 

 w east of ( i reeii wich, within which zone Chinese 

 administration ^hall not be interfered with; also 

 within the walled city of Wei-Hai-Wei Chinese 

 jurisdiction continues unless it shall be superseded 

 for military reasons. Chinese war vessels retain the 

 right to u-- the leased waters. 



( onces.joim to I'm iirt>. In compensation for 

 the advantages secured by Kussia and other powers 

 France pre*-ntcd the following demands, which the 

 Chinese Government on April 13 conceded: The 

 lease of a bav on the southern coast of China ; the 

 concession of H railroad connecting Tonquin with 

 Yunnan-Ku bv the Hod river; an agreement by 

 China not to alienate the territories of the Chinese 

 provinces bordering on Tooooin; an engagement 

 not to cede the island of Hainan to any other 

 power: an arrangement for placing the Chinese 

 portal service under the direction of a Frenchman. 

 The bay chosen by France for a naval station was 

 that of Kwangchau. in the Lcichmi peninsula. 

 Great Britain opposed no obstacle to the railroad 

 concession, assuming the right to continue the 



Burmese Railroad when it reaches the frontier, into 

 Yunnan by virtue of the declaration signed by 

 M. Courcel and Lord Salisbury on Jan. 15. 1896, 

 whereby all privileges or advantages obtained by 

 either Prance or Great Britain in Yunnan or 

 Szuchuan shall be extended and rendered common 

 to both powers. China had already promised 

 France by the convention of June 12, 1897, never 

 to give up Hainan to any other power. The Bay 

 of Kwangchau-Wan was occupied by Admiral de 

 la Bedolliere on April 22. The lease was of the 

 same kind as that of Kiauchau to Germany. The 

 concession for a railroad from Lao-Kai to the city 

 of Yunnan was on the same general terms as the 

 one for the Trans-Manchurian Railroad, with accom- 

 panying exclusive mining privileges throughout the 

 area traversed. The provinces which China prom- 

 ised never to alienate, offering to enter into the 

 same engagement with England in regard to them, 

 are Kwangtung, Kwangsi, and Yunnan. 



Concessions to Japan. The integrity of the 

 whole of China proper was assured, so far as the 

 present Pekin Government can do so by promises, 

 when Japan in April demanded and obtained the 

 non-alienation of the province of Fokien, opposite 

 Formosa, fearing that the French might secure a 

 foothold there. Asserting the rights which she se- 

 cured by the protocol of October, 189G, Japan noti- 

 fied China that she required settlements to be es- 

 tablished for the exclusive use of the Japanese at 

 Fuchau, Wusung, Shasi, Fanning, Yochau, and 

 Ching-Wan-Tao, but agreed to the postponement of 

 her claims in Fuchau, and also assented to the con- 

 tention of China that in ports voluntarily opened, 

 such as Wusung, there should be a common settle- 

 ment for foreigners, which shall remain under 

 Chinese control. 



Extension of Hong-Kong. To balance the 

 French occupation of Kwangchau-Wan as a coaling 

 station. Great Britain demanded and obtained the 

 extension of British territory at Kaulung. opposite 

 Hong-Kong, which military experts had been urg- 

 ing for a long time as necessary to the safety of the 

 British arsenal and military harbor from the land 

 side. An extension was needed also for the 

 industrial expansion of the colony. The Tsung- 

 li-Yamen acceded to the British demand on May 

 2, and the convention was signed on June 9. 

 The boundaries of the colony were enlarged so 

 as to include a part of Kaulung on the main- 

 land by the Pekin convention of 1860. The ter- 

 ritory now added by a lease running for ninety- 

 nine years from July 1, 1898, embraces about 200 

 square miles, reaching back from Kaulung 15 miles, 

 up to a line joining Mirs Bay and Deep Bay, leaving 

 the north shore of both bays to China. It includes 

 the whole promontory of Kaulung and a considera- 

 ble part of the peninsula from which it projects. 

 The island of Lantao and all the islands and waters 

 of the two bays are embraced in the lease, China 

 reserving the right to use them for her own ships, 

 whet her belligerent or neutral. The native city of 

 Kaulung remains under Chinese jurisdiction. To 

 prevent Chinese revenue from suffering from the 

 change, it was stipulated that a Chinese commis- 

 sioner of customs should be empowered to collect 

 duties in Hong-Kong on all goods carried on, Chi- 

 nese junks from or to Chinese ports, as also in the 

 German territory of Kiauchau the Chinese have 

 been allowed to erect a customhouse. 



The Manchiirian Railroad. In Manchurias 

 where the Eastern China Railroad was being built 

 as a short cut of the Siberian line to Vladivostok, 

 the Russians already had and exercised all the 

 rights and privileges they could desire. They had 

 the right to mine, the right to build houses and im- 

 port all kinds of machinery for railroad and min- 



