File No. 893.77/1667
The Minister in China (
Reinsch
) to
the Secretary of State
No. 2142
Peking
,
June 29, 1918
.
Sir: In connection with my despatch No.
1736 of November 1917,1 relating to the protest of the British
Government against the proposed construction by an American
corporation of certain railways in the Provinces of Hupeh and Hunan,
I now have the honor to enclose a translation of a note from the
Ministry for Foreign Affairs to the British Minister under date of
June 21, 1918, in answer to said British protest. It will be seen
the essential point in the answer [Page 201] of the Chinese Government is that, as the main
agreement to which the letter of the Hukuang Viceroy refers has now
no force, by the terms of the agreement itself, the letter which was
an addendum thereto has also ceased to have force.
I have [etc.]
[Enclosure—Translation]
The Chinese Minister for Foreign Affairs
(
Lu Cheng-hsiang
) to the British Minister (
Jordan
)
Excellency: I had the honor to receive
a note from Mr. B. F. Alston, Chargé d’Affaires, in which he
stated that the railways included in the agreement between the
Chinese Government and American merchants, the International
Corporation, were an encroachment on the railways specified in
the Hu-Hang-Yung (Shanghai-Hangchow-Ningpo) Railway agreement,
and also were inconsistent with the note formerly given by the
Hukuang Viceroy to the British Consul at Hankow.
This Ministry has referred the matter to the Ministry of
Communications with instructions to investigate carefully. That
Ministry now replies as follows:
- 1.
- Regarding the claim based on the Hu-Hang-Yung
agreement, in the 19th article of the said agreement it
is specifically stated that the agreement includes the
construction of branch roads. The Wen-Hang (Wenchow to
Hangchow) Railway is a main line of the Chinese system,
in length 400 to 500 li, and cannot be considered a
branch road of the Hu-Hang-Yung line. Since this road
cannot be considered a branch line of the Hu-Hang-Yung
Railway, Article 19 of the agreement can have no
reference to it.
- 2.
- With reference to the note formerly given the British
Consul at Hankow by the, Hukuang Viceroy, it is clearly
stated in Article 2 of the Hongkong agreement that when
the capital and interest have been paid the agreement
shall be canceled. The note referred to was an addendum
to the said agreement. The capital and interest
specified in the agreement have long been paid and so
the agreement has now no force, so any addendum to the
agreement has also ceased to have force.
As in duty bound we send to your excellency the report of the
Ministry of Communications.
[File copy not signed]
