Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, With the Annual Message of the President Transmitted to Congress December 5, 1898
Mr. Denby to Mr. Sherman.
Peking, China, May 18, 1898.
Sir: I have the honor to inclose a translation of the recent Russo-Chinese convention, clipped from the North China News of the 10th instant.
I have, etc.,
The Russo-Chinese convention.
The Russo-Chinese convention, with regard to Liaotung and correlated matters, was signed in Peking on the 27th of March, and a copy of it has been forwarded to the Jiji Shimpo by the latter’s special correspondent in that city. It runs as follows:
Li and Chang [here follow their titles and degrees], having been invested with plenipotentiary powers by His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of China, and M. Pawlow, Russian chargé d’affaires in Peking, having been similarly invested by His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Russia, have this day—3d of the third month of the twenty-fourth year Kuanghsu—concluded the following convention with regard to the leasing of Port Arthur and Talien:
- Article I. In order to provide for Russia a suitable basis on the northern coast of China, and thereby to render her naval position complete and secure, His Majesty the Emperor of China agrees hereby to lease Port Arthur and Talien, together with their adjacent waters, to Russia: Provided, That the sovereign rights of the Middle Kingdom shall not be impaired by the transaction.
- Art. II. With regard to the limits of the leased land, steps shall hereafter be taken to determine by survey to what distance the boundary should be carried in a northerly direction from Talien in order to provide for the security of that place. But the exact limits and all other details connected with the operation of this convention shall be determined after consultation between the Chinese representative in St. Petersburg and the Russian Government: Provided, That within the limits thus determined Russia shall enjoy the rights and privileges of a lessee.
- Art. III. The period of the lease shall be twenty-five years from date of signing this convention. Provided, That, at the conclusion of that period, it may be prolonged by mutual agreement between the contracting parties.
- Art. IV. The district, territorial and maritime, described in Article I, shall serve as a depot of military and naval supplies to Russia, and the principal officials administering its affairs may be Russians, acting under a chief who shall have general responsibility. Provided, however, That such officials must not bear the title of governor-general or visiting inspector. The troops of the Middle Kingdom shall not be permitted to encamp within the limits of the leased land, but civilian subjects of the Middle Kingdom shall be entitled to reside there provided that they do not behave lawlessly. In the event of a breach of the law by a Chinese subject he shall be handed over to the nearest Chinese local tribunal for judgment and the infliction of a penalty. All details relating to the administration of justice shall be determined in accordance with the Russo Chinese treaty of 1860 (the tenth year of Hien-fung).
- Art. V. Beyond the northern boundary of the leased land an uninhabited space shall be left, its limits to be hereafter determined by the Chinese representative in St. Petersburg and the Russian Government in consultation. All affairs within this space shall be under the control of Chinese officials, but Chinese troops may not enter there except after consultation with the Russian authorities.
- Art. VI. The contracting parties agree to regard Port Arthur as a naval station. It shall be used by Russian and Chinese ships only, and neither the men-of-war nor the merchantmen of any other power shall have access to it. Similarly, in the case of Talien Bay, one part shall serve as a naval station for the warships of China and Rusia, but the rest shall be a commercial port, open for the ingress and egress of the ships of all nations.
- Art. VII. In view of the importance of Port Arthur and Talien, Russia undertakes to construct, at her own expense, whatever barracks and forts may be required, and to adopt whatever other means are necessary for the defense of those places.
- Art. VIII. It shall be permitted to construct a railway from a point in the part of the Trans-Asian trunk road for the building of which China gave her consent in 1896, to Talien, all the details of construction to be in accordance with the Chinese system of Manchurian lines. Moreover, a branch of the line so constructed may be carried from some place midway between Yingtsze (Newch wang) and the Yalu River to a convenient point on the seacoast. All details relating to the direction of the roads and their building shall be settled by the Chinese representative in St. Petersburg in consultation with the director of the Trans-Asian Railway: Provided, That the Russian Government explicitly engages that there shall be no trespassing upon, or seizure of, Chinese territory in connection with the above railway works.
- Art. IX. This convention shall become operative from the day of its conclusion, and the ratifications shall be exchanged in St. Petersburg.
The above appears to have been rendered from the Chinese into Japanese, so that our interpretation is only a translation from a translation, and can not be relied on for accuracy. One very important point, however, appears quite plain, namely, that a portion of Talien Bay is to be converted into a naval station accessible to Chinese and Russian warships only. That is a new feature of an open port. Another interesting point is that there is to be a branch of the Liao-tung railway, leading from a point midway between Newchwang and the month of the Yalu to the sea. What sea is contemplated we can not yet tell—whether the Gulf of Pechili or the Yellow Sea. If the former, Newchwang will probably be the objective point. If the latter, the line will probably traverse southern Shingking and emerge at Takushan, which is about 25 miles west of the mouth of the Yalu.—[Japan Mail.]