§ MR. YERBURGHI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the mortgage given by the Pekin—Han-Kau Railway contract to the Franco-Belgian syndicate on the line in case of default is an infringement of the engagement of the Chinese Government not to mortgage, lease, or cede any territory in the Yang-tsze region?
§ MR. BRODRICKThe views of Her Majesty's Government with regard to the concession for the Pekin—Han-Kau Railway are contained in the telegram to Sir C. Macdonald of 9th June 1898, given on page 117 of the Blue Book China No. 1, 1899. The breach of faith committed by the Chinese Government in the matter was a sufficient justifica- 1282 tion for the demands of Her Majesty's Government, without consideration of the question whether there had been any infringement of the undertaking in regard to the Yang-tsze region.