HC Deb 21 February 1901 vol 89 cc679-80
MR. YERBURGH (Chester)

I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the Government have received notice of the supplementary provisions which M. de Witte is reported to desire to add to the agreement between China and Russia with regard to Manchuria; and, if so, whether such provisions conflict with his statement that the guarantee which the Russians expected from China with regard to Manchuria would not take the form of an acquisition of territory or of a virtual or actual protectorate; and whether it is the intention of the Government to secure for this country the full enjoyment of the rights which are guaranteed to it in Manchuria, as well as in other portions of the Chinese Empire, by its treaties with China.

* THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Viscount CRANBORNE,) Rochester

The answer to the first question is in the negative. No agreement in respect of Manchuria has been communicated by the Russian Government to His Majesty's Government. The statement which I made on Monday was based on a report furnished by His Majesty's Ambassador at St. Petersburg, and upon the authority of the Russian Government. The arrangement to which the hon. Member refers is, I assume, that made between the Russian and the Chinese local authorities for temporary and provisional purposes, and such an arrangement cannot affect the rights enjoyed by this country under our treaties with the Chinese Empire.