No. 264.
Mr. McLane to Mr.
Bayard.
Legation of
the United States,
Paris, June 24, 1885.
(Received July 9.)
No. 29.]
Sir: I have the honor to send herewith a copy and a
translation of the treaty of Tien-Tsin between France and China, which was
laid before the Chambers on the 22d instant. The treaty was signed on the
9th, and ratified shortly after by the Emperor of China. Mr. de Freycinet,
in presenting it to the Chamber, said it was desirable that France should
ratify it without delay, and asked that proper authority be given to the
Government to that effect.
The treaty of Tien-Tsin is not ostensibly a treaty of peace, for the fiction
that China and France have not been at war is respected in this instrument,
which puts an end to the hostilities existing between the two nations; it is
a treaty to improve the friendly and commercial relations existing between
the two countries, and in fact it does improve materially these relations by
securing to France commercial advantages which compensate for the sacrifices
she has made.
China, however, does not acknowledge in words the protectorate of France over
Annam, but she engages to respect all the treaties or arrangements made or to be made by France with Annam, and as the treaty
of Hue establishes the French protectorate in the broadest terms, and
stipulates that the diplomatic relations of that court will be conducted
through the intermediary of France, her protectorate over Annam is as fully
recognized by China as it can be.
Commissioners are to be appointed to determine the frontier line of the two
countries, and when this frontier has been so determined no one will be
allowed to pass from Tonquin to China without a French passport. This
clause, coupled with another article providing that the rates of duties
levied on all merchandise carried from Tonquin to the two provinces of
Yunnan and Kuang-si, or from these provinces to Tonquin, will be less than
the duty paid at the Chinese ports open to foreigners, practically places
the whole of this region under the control of France.
In addition to the advantages thus assured to France, China agrees that when
she builds railroads she will apply to French manufacturers and mechanics,
and the French Government is to afford her every possible facility for the
engagement of railway engineers. Although it is stated that this clause is
not to be considered in the light of an exclusive
[Page 371]
privilege for France, it is plain that France will
have special opportunities to turn it to her advantage, and as it is
reported that the two Governments have in view the construction of a line
connecting Canton with Hanoi, nearly one thousand miles, some hundreds of
millions may thereby be expended in France.
In short, although the indemnity formerly so persistently claimed by France
is now waived by her, she obtains by the treaty of Tien-Tsin full and
undisputed possession of the whole of Tonquin, and exclusive privileges of
trading which open to her commerce and industry the southwestern markets of
one of the largest Empires of the world.
I have, &c.,
[Inclosure in No.
29.—Translation.]
Treaty of peace, &c., concluded between France
and China, June 9, 1885, at
Tien-Tsin.
The President of the French Republic and his Majesty the Emperor of
China, both animated by an equal desire of putting an end to the
difficulties to which their simultaneous intervention in the affairs of
Annam have given rise, and wishing to restore and improve the old
relations of friendship and commerce existing between France and China,
have resolved to conclude a fresh treaty corresponding to the commercial
interests of the two nations, taking as a basis the convention signed at
Tien-Tsin on the 11th of June, 1884, and ratified by imperial decree on
the 10th of April, 1885.
For this purpose the two high contracting parties have appointed as their
plenipotentiaries the President of the French Republic, M. Jules
Patenétre, plenipotentiary of France in China, officer of the Legion of
Honor, Grand Cross of the Order of the Pole Star of Sweden, &c.; and
his Majesty the Emperor of China, Li Hung-Chang, imperial commissioner,
first grand secretary of state, honorary grand tutor of the heir
presumptive, overseer of the commerce of the northern ports,
governor-general of the province of Tcheli, belonging to the first
degree of the third rank of the nobility, with the title of Son-gi;
assisted by Si-Tchen, imperial commissioner, member of the council of
foreign affairs, president of the ministry of justice, administrator of
the treasury at the ministry of finance, director of schools for the
education of hereditary officers of the left wing of the Tartar guard at
Peking, commander-in-chief of the Chinese contingent of the embroidered
left banner; and by Teng-Tcheng-Sieon, imperial commissioner, member of
the council of state ceremonial; who, after having exchanged their full
powers, which they recognized to be in due and proper form, have agreed
to the following articles:
- Article 1. France undertakes to
restore and maintain order in the provinces of Annam bordering
on the Chinese Empire. For this purpose she will take the
necessary measures for dispersing or expelling the bands of
freebooters and adventurers who compromise public tranquillity,
and for preventing them from forming again. The French troops,
however, shall not in any case cross the frontier separating
Tonquin from China—a frontier which France engages to respect
and to guarantee against any aggression. China on her part
undertakes to disperse or expel the bands which may take refuge
in her provinces bordering on Tonquin, and to disperse those
which may seek to form on her territory in order to Introduce
troubles among the populations placed under the protection of
France; and in consideration of the guarantees given her as
regards the security of her frontier she equally debars herself
from sending troops into Tonquin. The high contracting parties
will settle by a special convention the conditions on which the
extradition of malefactors between China and Annam shall be
effected. Chinese colonists, or old soldiers, living peaceably
in Annam and devoting themselves to agriculture, industry, or
commerce, and whose conduct shall be open to no reproach, shall
enjoy the same security for person and property as persons
protected by France.
- Art. 2. China, resolved on doing
nothing which can jeopardize the work of pacification entered
upon by France, undertakes to respect, in the present and the
future, the treaties and conventions directly concluded, or to
be concluded, between France and Annam. As regards the relations
between China and Annam, it is understood that they shall be of
a nature not infringing the dignity of the Chinese Empire, and
not giving rise to any violation of the present treaty.
- Art. 3. Within six months of the
signing of the present treaty, commissioners nominated by the
high contracting parties shall repair to the spot for the
purpose of inspecting
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the frontier between China and Tonquin. They shall, wherever
necessary, place stones, designed to make apparent the line of
demarkation. In case they cannot agree on the sites of these
stones, or on the details of the alterations which there may be
ground for making in the existing frontier of Tonquin, in the
common interest of the two countries, they shall refer to their
respective Governments.
- Art. 4. When the frontier shall have
been recognized, Frenchmen, or French protégés, and foreign inhabitants of Tonquin, wishing
to cross it to enter China shall not do so until after
previously providing themselves with passports, to be delivered
by the Chinese frontier authorities on the application of the
French authorities. For Chinese subjects a permit delivered by
the Imperial frontier authorities shall be sufficient. Chinese
subjects wishing to go from China to Tonquin by land must be
furnished with regular passports, to be delivered by the French
authorities on the application of the Imperial
authorities.
- Art. 5. Import and export trade
shall be permitted to French merchants or French protégés and to Chinese merchants on the
frontier between China and Tonquin. It shall, however, be
conducted through certain points which shall be subsequently
fixed, and of which the number, as well as the selection, shall
depend on the direction and the importance of the traffic
between the two countries. In this respect the regulations in
force in the interior of China shall be kept in view. In all
circumstances, two of these points shall be specified on the
Chinese frontier—one above Lao-Kai, the other beyond Lang-Son.
The French merchants may settle there under the same conditions
and with the same advantages as in the ports open to foreign
commerce. The Government of His Majesty the Emperor of China
shall establish custom-houses there, and the Government of the
Republic may support there consuls whose privileges and
attributes will be identical with those of the agents of the
same class in the open ports. On his side, the Emperor of China
may, in agreement with the French Government, name consuls in
the principal towns of Tonquin.
- Art. 6. A special table, annexed to
the present treaty, shall set forth the conditions under which
trade shall be carried on overland between Tonquin and the
Chinese provinces of Yunnan, Kuang-si, and Canton. This
regulation shall be worked out by commissioners, who shall be
named by the high contracting parties in the course of three
months after the signing of the present treaty. Merchandise
forming the object of this commerce shall be subject, on
entering and on leaving Tonquin and the provinces of Yunnan and
Kuang-si, to duties lower than those set forth in the present
tariff of foreign commerce. The reduced tariff, however, shall
not be applied to the merchandise conveyed over the land
frontier between Tonquin and Canton, and shall have no effect in
the ports already open under the treaties. The trade in arms,
engines, stores, and munitions of war of all kinds shall be
subjected to the laws and regulations enforced by each of the
contracting states within its territory. The exportation and
importation of opium shall be controlled by special
arrangements, which shall also appear in the commercial
regulations mentioned. The commerce by sea between China and
Annam shall also be the subject of a special regulation.
Provisionally there shall be no innovation on the existing
practice.
- Art. 7. With the view of developing,
under the most advantageous conditions, the commercial relations
and the neighborliness which it is the object of the present
treaty to re-establish between France and China, the Government
of the Republic shall construct roads in Tonquin, and shall
encourage there the construction of railways. When; on her side,
China shall have decided to construct railways, it is understood
that she shall make application to French industry and to the
Government of the Republic, which will give her all possible
facilities to procure in France such persons as she will
require. It is also understood that this clause cannot be
considered to constitute an exclusive privilege in favor of
France.
- Art. 8. The commercial stipulations
of the present treaty and the regulations to be added may be
revised after an interval often years from the day of the
exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty. But in case
six months before this term neither the one nor the other of the
high contracting parties shall have manifested a desire to
proceed to the revision, the commercial stipulations shall
remain in force for a new term of ten years, and thus
subsequently.
- Art. 9. As soon as the present
treaty has been signed, the French forces shall receive the
order to retire from Kelung and to abandon the right of search
on the high seas. Within one month after the signing of the
present treaty the island of Formosa and the Pescadores shall be
entirely evacuated.
- Art. 10. The provisions of the
former treaties, agreements, and conventions between France and
China, not modified by the present treaty, remain in full force.
The present treaty shall be at once ratified by His Majesty the
Emperor of China, and, after it has been ratified by the
President of the French Republic, the exchange of the
ratifications shall be made at Peking after the shortest
possible delay.
Executed at
Tien-Tsin, June 9, 1885.
