MR. GIBSON BOWLES (Lynn Regis)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will lay upon the Table of the House information respecting the cause and origin of the warlike operations now being carried on against the Kachins on the Upper Irrawaddy, adjacent to Burma; whether, since the conclusion of the Treaty with China relative to the Burmese territories lately under the dominion of King Theebaw, Her Majesty's Government have received any representations from the Chinese Government deprecating British interference with the territory of the Kachins; and, if so, whether any, and what, reply has been made to such representations; and whether the information in his possession shows that the continuance of warlike operations against the Kachins may load to irruptions of Chinese similar to those of the "Black Flags" encountered by the French in Tonkin?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Sir E. GREY,) Northumberland, BerwickThe operations in question were rendered necessary by repeated raids of the Kachin tribes in the hills on the settled villages situated in the plain 165 country east of the Irrawaddy. An attempt was first made to repress these by punitive expeditions; and as that measure proved insufficient, a more definite attempt was made in 1891 and 1892 to enforce order among the tribes with a view to the safety of the villages under our jurisdiction, and the proper protection of the great trade routes between Yunnan and Mandalay. Representations have been made by the Chinese Government, and explanations have been given in reply, which have been received in a friendly manner. Negotiations are in progress with China for a settlement of the frontier, which it is hoped may shortly be brought to a satisfactory conclusion. It is not desired to continue the operations longer or further than is necessary for the objects already mentioned, and there is no reason to believe that they will give rise to Chinese irruptions of the nature indicated. At this stage of the negotiations it would not be desirable to make the correspondence public.