893.0146/633

The French Embassy to the Department of State15

On the occasion of the partial withdrawal of American troops from Northern China, it is recalled that last December, the British Government had approached the French Government requesting for an expression of opinion concerning a project attributed to the Japanese Government to recognize the new Peiping administration.

The French Foreign Office called the attention of the British Embassy in Paris to the fact that the Protocol of 190116 (Diplomatic Missions, military protection and liberty of communication between Peiping and the sea) is a collective pact signed by China on one side and the Representatives of other Governments on the other side, and that, should modifications be found necessary in that pact, they should be brought about only after an exchange of views between the interested Governments. The French Government added that it did not think the time had come when such a change could take place. It pointed out the necessity of avoiding to give the Chinese Government the impression that Peiping was no longer under Chinese Sovereignty. Furthermore, it might encourage Japanese ambitions. The French Foreign Office also pointed out that any decision concerning the Peiping area might affect the security and the future of foreign concessions in Tientsin. Of course, the French Government clearly realized that the development of events in the Far East would necessitate the revision some time of the position of the different Powers in the regions of Peiping and Tientsin, but such a revision should, in its opinion, be carefully prepared by conversations between the United States, Great Britain and France.

After the British Government had been informed of the position of the French Government, the matter brought up in the British Embassy’s note to the French Foreign Office was set aside.

Today, on the occasion of the American decision, the French Government still feels that any important changes made by the United States, Great Britain or France, in their military and diplomatic position in Northern China, will give China and Japan the impression, that those countries are more or less indifferent to the future of that, region. The Protocol of 1901 constitutes a sort of limitation to Japanese action in Northern China and protects Chinese as well as foreign interests, and it is recalled that last December, the Chinese Ambassador in London emphasized the importance of that particular point before the British Government.

[Page 78]

The French Government feels that the decision of the American Government may strengthen the position of the Japanese. Furthermore, any restriction of the rights presently enjoyed by the Powers in Northern China may weaken their diplomatic position when the time comes for negotiating changes in the provisions of the Protocol of 1901.

As stated above, in the opinion of the French Government, it would be advisable that any changes which might be contemplated in the present status quo, take place after consultation between the interested Powers.

  1. Handed to the Under Secretary of State by the French Chargé, February 8.
  2. Signed at Peking, September 7, 1901, Foreign Relations, 1901, Appendix (Affairs in China), p. 312.