§ MR. MARKSI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the right to send ships of war to Port Arthur, a right which we enjoy, together with other Powers, under the Treaty of Tien-tsin, still holds good, and can that right still be exercised when the occasion shall arise; or whether the cession of Port Arthur, with the territories adjacent thereto and the territorial waters dependent thereon, to Russia, will affect the rights of Great Britain in this respect?
MR. CURZONIn the telegram of 16th March, already referred to, Count Muravieff further authorised Sir N. O'Conor to assure Her Majesty's Government that there was no intention on the part of the Russian Government to infringe the rights and privileges guaranteed by existing Treaties between China and foreign countries. Those privileges include the right under Article 52 of the Treaty of Tien-tsin to send ships of war to all ports within the dominions of the Emperor of China.