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this she is willing to lease temporarily to Russia the port of Kiaochou [Chiaochou] in the province of Shantung, the period of such lease being limited to fifteen years. At the end of this period China shall buy all the barracks, godowns, machine shops and docks built there by Russia [during her occupation of the said port]. But, should there be no danger of military operations Russia shall not enter immediately into possession of the said port or hold the important points dominating the port, in order to obviate the chance of exciting the jealousy and suspicions of other Powers. With reference to the amount of rent and the way it is to be paid, this shall form the subject of consideration in a protocol at some future date.

"10. As the Liaotung ports of Lushunk'ou [Port Arthur] and Talienwan and their dependencies are important strategical points, it shall be incumbent upon China to properly fortify them with all haste, and to repair all their fortifications, etc., in order to provide against future dangers; Russia shall therefore lend all necessary assistance in helping to protect these two ports and shall not permit any Foreign Power to encroach upon them. China, on her part, also binds herself never to cede them to another country; but, if in future the exigencies of the case require it and Russia should find herself suddenly involved in a war, China consents to allow Russia temporarily to concentrate her land and naval forces within the said ports in order the better to enable Russia to attack the enemy or to guard her own position.

"11.-If, however, there be no dangers of military operations in which Russia is engaged China shall have entire control over the administration of the said ports of Lushunk'ou and Talienwan, nor shall Russia interfere in any way therein. But as regards the building of the railways in the Three Eastern Provinces and the exploitation and opening of the mines therein, they shall be permitted to be proceeded with immediately after the ratification of this Convention and at the pleasure of the people concerned therein. With reference to the civil and military officers of Russia and Russian merchants and traders traveling [in any part of the territories herein mentioned], wherever they shall go they shall be given all the privileges of protection and facilities within the power of the local authorities, nor shall these officials be allowed to put obstructions in the way or delay the journeys of the Russian officers and subjects herein mentioned.

"12.-After this Convention shall have received the respective signatures of their Imperial Majesties [the Emperors of China and

Russia], the articles included therein shall go into immediate force, and, with the exception of the clauses regarding Port Arthur, Talienwan, and Kiaochou, shall be notified to the various local authorities of the two Empires. As to the place for the exchange of ratifications, it shall be left to be decided at some future time, but the exchange shall take place within the space of six months. "It has, furthermore, been agreed upon between the respective Plenipotentiaries of the High Contracting Powers to make this Convention out in three languages, namely, Chinese, Russian and French; one copy of each language to be held by the respective High Contracting Parties, after the signing and sealing thereof. And it has, furthermore, been shown, upon comparison, that the contents of the documents as given in the three languages aforesaid tally with each other in all respects; but in case of dispute in the future the wording of the French copy shall be deemed the correct version.

"This document speaks for itself, and gives Russia all she can want at present. It gives her the right to carry her TransSiberian Railway to Kirin in two directions, from some station in Siberia to the west of Kirin, and from Vladivostok. It provides that China may apply to Russia to build a continuation from Kirin to Shanhaikuan and Port Arthur, and it gives Russia the right to protect these lines when built with her own troops. All these lines are to be built to the Russian gauge. China gives Russians the right to work mines in Manchuria, and provides for the employment of Russian officers to drill the Manchurian levies. It gives Russia (on lease) the port of Kiaochou, and on emergency the use of Port Arthur and Talienwan, which are not to be ceded to any other Power; and it promises every facility to Russian merchants and travellers and Russian trade. All the most important points in the secret treaty which we gave to the world in March last are embodied in this, and time will show whether this is the full extent of China's gratitude to Russia."

APPENDIX V

In an article entitled "Manchuria-A Chinese View of the Situation," by "An Admirer of Li Hung Chang," which was published in the London Daily Telegraph of February 15, 1910, it was stated that while attending the Coronation ceremonies of

Emperor Nicholas at Moscow, in May, 1896, Li Hung Chang concluded with the Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs (Prince Lobanoff-Rostovsky) a secret treaty of alliance, the French text of which was given together with the following English translation:

Treaty of Alliance between China and Russia.-May, 1896.

"ARTICLE I.-Every aggression directed by Japan, whether against Russian territory in Eastern Asia, or against the territory of China or that of Korea, shall be regarded as necessarily bringing about the immediate application of the present treaty.

"In this case the two High Contracting Parties engage to support each other reciprocally by all the land and sea forces of which they can dispose at that moment, and to assist each other as much as possible for the victualling of their respective forces.

"ARTICLE II.-As soon as the two High Contracting Parties shall be engaged in common action no treaty of peace with the adverse party can be concluded by one of them without the assent of the other.

"ARTICLE III.-During the military operations all the ports of China shall, in case of necessity, be open to Russian warships, which shall find there on the part of the Chinese authorities all the assistance of which they may stand in need.

"ARTICLE IV.-In order to facilitate the access of the Russian land troops to the menaced points, and to ensure their means of subsistence, the Chinese Government consents to the construction of a railway line across the Chinese provinces of the Amour [i.e., Heilungkiang] and of Guirin (Kirin) in the direction of Vladivostok. The junction of this railway with the Russian railway shall not serve as a pretext for any encroachment on Chinese territory nor for any infringement of the rights of sovereignty of his Majesty the Emperor of China. The construction and exploitation of this railway shall be accorded to the Russo-Chinese Bank, and the clauses of the Contract which shall be concluded for this purpose shall be duly discussed between the Chinese Minister in St. Petersburg and the Russo-Chinese Bank.

"ARTICLE V.-It is understood that in time of war, as indicated in Article I, Russia shall have the free use of the railway mentioned in Article IV, for the transport and provisioning of her troops. In time of peace Russia shall have the same right for the transit of her troops and stores, with stoppages, which shall not

be justified by any other motive than the needs of the transport service.

"ARTICLE VI.-The present treaty shall come into force on the day when the contract stipulated in Article IV, shall have been confirmed by his Majesty the Emperor of China. It shall have from then force and value for a period of fifteen years. Six months before the expiration of this term the two High Contracting Parties shall deliberate concerning the prolongation of this treaty."

The substantial accuracy of the disclosure thus made would appear to be adequately confirmed by the following extract translated from Ma Mission en Chine: 1893-1897 (Paris, Plon-Nourrit), 1918, by M. A. Gerard, who during the period indicated was French Minister to China:

"Although the treaty was intended to remain secret, I one day had in my hands for a few minutes, during a visit which I made in the spring of 1897 to Li Hung Chang at his residence in Peking, the copy of the document which he had signed the previous year with Prince Lobanoff. . . . The English translation of this text was published fifteen years later, when the treaty itself had expired, in the London Daily Telegraph, by the son of Li Hung Chang, Li Ching Mai, who was then Chinese Minister at the Court of St. James, and who sought to defend his father's memory against unjust attacks. The treaty was in fact a treaty of alliance, concluded for a period of fifteen years, by which the Chinese Government obligated itself, in the event of an aggression by Japan, to place at the disposal of the Russian Government its ports and all means of defence. The principal clause of the treaty was the assent given by the Chinese Government to the construction and operation, in the Manchurian provinces of Amur (Heilungkiang) and Kirin, of a line of railway connecting with the Russian Siberian lines, the concession for which was made to the RussoChinese Bank by a contract to be signed between the Chinese Minister at St. Petersburg and the delegate of the Bank (Article IV). It was stipulated in Article VI that the treaty should come into force on the day on which the contract for the construction and operation of the railway should have been approved and ratified by the Emperor of China. . . .

"The English newspapers at Shanghai had published, long before it was signed, the alleged text of the treaty and of the contract. They published another so-called version in the month of October, 1896, some days after the ratification at Peking of the contract

in regard to the railway. These various texts, to which the English press gave the name of the "Cassini Convention," were apocryphal. They confused the treaty of alliance, properly so called, with the railway contract. . . . The true facts as here outlined establish that there never was, properly speaking, any 'Cassini Convention'; that the treaty of alliance was concluded at St. Petersburg in the month of May, 1896, between Li Hung Chang and Prince Lobanoff; that the railway contract was signed on September 8th following, also at St. Petersburg, by the Chinese Minister, Shu Ching Cheng, and the delegates of the Russo-Asiatic Bank; and that it was this contract for whose definite ratification at Peking on September 30th Count Cassini waited before proceeding on his way to Russia."

APPENDIX VI

Statutes of THE CHINESE EASTERN RAILWAY COMPANY

"Formation of the Company.—§ 1. On the strength of the Agreement concluded on the 27th August/8th September, 1896, by the Imperial Chinese Government with the Russo-Chinese Bank, a Company is formed under the name of the "Eastern Chinese Railway Company" for the construction and working of a railway within the confines of China from one of the points on the western borders of the Provinces of Hei-Lun-Tsian, to one of the points on the eastern borders of the Province of Ghirin and for the connection of this railway with those branches which the Imperial Russian Government will construct to the Chinese frontier from Trans-Baikalia and the southern Ussuri lines. [Observation. The Company is empowered, subject to the sanction of the Chinese Government, to exploit, in connection with the railway or independently of it, coal mines, as also to exploit in China other enterprises mining, industrial, and commercial. For the working of these enterprises which may be independent of the railway, the Company shall keep accounts separate from those of the railway.] "The formation of the Company shall be undertaken by the Russo-Chinese Bank.

"With the formation of the Company all rights and obligations are transferred to it in regard to the construction and working of the line ceded in virtue of the above-named Agreement of the 27th August/8th September, 1896.

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