Pour le Portugal:

(L.S.) CONDE DE TOVAR.

Pour la Russie:

(L.S.) CASSINI.

Pour la Suède :

(L.S.) SAGER.

CONVENTION between Great Britain and China respecting Tibet.-Signed at Peking, April 27, 1906.

[Ratifications exchanged at London July 23, 1906.]

[Signed also in Chinese.]

WHEREAS His Majesty the King of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India, and His Majesty the Emperor of China are sincerely desirous to maintain and perpetuate the relations of friendship and good understanding which now exist between their respective Empires;

And whereas the refusal of Tibet to recognise the validity of or to carry into full effect the provisions of the Anglo-Chinese Convention of March 17, 1890* and Regulations of December 5, 1893† placed the British Government under the necessity of taking steps to secure their rights and interests under the said Convention and Regulations;

And whereas a Convention of ten Articles was signed at Lhasa on September 7, 1904 on behalf of Great Britain and Tibet, and was ratified by the Viceroy and Governor-General of India on behalf of Great Britain on November 11, 1904§, a declaration on behalf of Great Britain modifying its terms under certain conditions being appended thereto;

His Britannic Majesty and His Majesty the Emperor of China have resolved to conclude a Convention on this subject and have for this purpose named Plenipotentiaries, that is to say :

His Majesty the King of Great Britain and Ireland:

Sir Ernest Mason Satow, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, His said Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to His Majesty the Emperor of China;

And His Majesty the Emperor of China:

His Excellency Tong Shoa-yi, His said Majesty's High Commissioner Plenipotentiary and a Vice-President of the Board of Foreign Affairs;

who having communicated to each other their respective full powers and finding them to be in good and true form have agreed upon and concluded the following Convention in six Articles :

* Vol. LXXXII, page 9. Vol. XCVIII, page 148.

† Vol. LXXXV, page 1235.

§ Vol. XCVIII, page 151.

ART. I. The Convention concluded on September 7, 1904 by Great Britain and Tibet, the texts of which in English and Chinese are attached to the present Convention as an annex, is hereby confirmed, subject to the modification stated in the declaration appended thereto, and both of the High Contracting Parties engage to take at all times such steps as may be necessary to secure the due fulfilment of the terms specified therein.

II. The Government of Great Britain engages not to annex Tibetan territory or to interfere in the administration of Tibet. The Government of China also undertakes not to permit any other foreign State to interfere with the territory or internal administration of Tibet.

III. The Concessions which are mentioned in Article IX (d) of the Convention concluded on September 7, 1904 by Great Britain and Tibet are denied to any State or to the subject of any State other than China, but it has been arranged with China that at the trade marts specified in Article II of the aforesaid Convention Great Britain shall be entitled to lay down telegraph lines connecting with India.

IV. The provisions of the Anglo-Chinese Convention of 1890 and Regulations of 1893 shall, subject to the terms of this present Convention and annex thereto, remain in full force.

V. The English and Chinese texts of the present Convention have been carefully compared and found to correspond but in the event of there being any difference of meaning between them the English text shall be authoritative.

VI. This Convention shall be ratified by the Sovereigns of both countries and ratifications shall be exchanged at London within three months after. the date of signature by the Plenipotentiaries of both Powers.

In token whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed and sealed this Convention, four copies in English and four in Chinese.

Done at Peking this twenty-seventh day of April, one thousand nine hundred and six, being the fourth day of the fourth month of the thirty-second year of the reign of Kuang-hsü.

(L.S.) ERNEST SATOW. (Signature and Seal of the Chinese Plenipotentiary.)

ANNEX.

Convention between the Governments of Great Britain and Tibet signed at Lhasa on the 7th September, 1904. [See Vol. XCVIII, page 148.]

Declaration signed by His Excellency the Viceroy and Governor-General of India on behalf of the British Government and appended to the ratified Convention of the 7th September, 1904, [See Vol. XCVIII, page 151.]

EXCHANGE of Notes between Great Britain and China respecting the Non-employment of Foreigners in Tibet. Peking, April 27, 1906.

(1.)-Tong Shoa-yi to Sir E. Satow.

YOUR EXCELLENCY,

April 27, 1906.

WITH reference to the Convention* relating to Tibet which was signed to-day by your Excellency and myself on behalf of our respective Governments, I have the honour to declare formally that the Government of China undertakes not to employ any one not a Chinese subject and not of Chinese nationality in any capacity whatsoever in Tibet.

I avail, &c.

TONG SHOA-YI.

(2.)-Sir E. Satow to Tong Shoa-yi.

YOUR EXCELLENCY, Peking, April 27, 1906. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Excellency's note of this day's date, in which you declare formally, with reference to the Convention relating to Tibet which was signed to-day by your Excellency and myself on behalf of our respective Governments, that the Government of China undertakes not to employ any one not a Chinese subject and not of Chinese nationality in any capacity whatsoever in Tibet.

I avail, &c.

ERNEST SATOW.

AGREEMENT between Great Britain and the Independent State of the Congo, modifying the Agreement signed at Brussels, May 12, 1894,† relating to the Spheres of Influence of Great Britain and the Independent State of the Congo in East and Central Africa.-Signed at London, May 9, 1906.

THE Undersigned, the Right Honourable Sir Edward Grey, a Baronet of the United Kingdom, a Member of Parliament, His Britannic Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, on behalf of His Britannic Majesty; and Baron van Eetvelde, Commander of the Order of Leopold, a Minister of State of the Independent State of the Congo, on behalf of His Majesty King Leopold II, Sovereign of the Independent State of the * See page 171. † Vol. LXXXVI, page 19.

Congo, duly authorized thereto by their respective Sovereigns, have agreed as follows:

ART. I. The lease of the territories granted by Great Britain to His Majesty King Leopold II, Sovereign of the Independent State of the Congo, by Article II of the Agreement signed at Brussels on the 12th May, 1894, is hereby annulled. No claims shall be put forward by either Party in connection with this lease, or with any right derived therefrom. His Majesty King Leopold shall, however, continue during his reign to occupy, on the same conditions as at present, the territory now held by him, and known as the Lado Enclave. Within six months of the termination of His Majesty's occupation the Enclave shall be handed over to the Soudanese Government. Officials shall be appointed by the Soudanese and Congo State Governments to assess the value of such houses, stores, and other material improvements as may, by common agreement, be handed over with the Enclave, the amount agreed upon being paid to the Congo State by the Soudanese Government. The Enclave comprises the territory bounded by a line drawn from a point situated on the west shore of Lake Albert, immediately to the south of Mahagi, to the nearest point of the watershed between the Nile and Congo basins; thence the boundary follows that watershed up to its intersection from the north with the 30th meridian east of Greenwich, and that meridian up to its intersection with the parallel 5° 30′ of north latitude, whence it runs along that parallel to the Nile; thence it follows the Nile southward to Lake Albert and the western shore of Lake Albert down to the point above indicated south of Mahagi.

II. The boundary between the Independent State of the Congo on the one hand and the Anglo-Egyptian Soudan on the other, starting from the point of intersection from the south of the meridian of 30° longitude east of Greenwich with the watershed between the Nile and the Congo, shall follow the line of that watershed in a general north-westerly direction until it reaches the frontier between the Independent State of the Congo and French Congo.

Nevertheless, the strip of territory 25 kilom. in breadth stretching from the watershed between the Nile and the Congo up to the western shore of Lake Albert and including the port of Mahagi, of which a lease was granted to the Independent State of the Congo by Article II of the Agreement of the 12th May, 1894, shall continue in the possession of that State on the conditions laid down in that Article.

III. The Government of the Independent State of the Congo undertake not to construct, or allow to be constructed, any work on or near the Semliki or Isango River, which would diminish the volume of water entering Lake Albert, except in agreement with the Soudanese Government.

IV. A Concession shall be given, in terms to be agreed upon

between the Soudanese and Congo State Governments, to an Anglo-Belgian Company for the construction and working of a railway from the frontier of the Independent State of the Congo to the navigable channel of the Nile, near Lado, it being understood that, when His Majesty's occupation of the Enclave determines, this railway shall be wholly subject to the jurisdiction of the Soudanese Government. The actual direction of the line will be determined jointly by the Soudanese and Congo State Govern

ments.

In order to provide the capital expenditure required for the construction of this railway, the Egyptian Government undertake to guarantee a rate of interest of 3 per cent. on a sum which is not to exceed 800,000%.

V. A port open to general commerce, with suitable provision for the storing and transhipment of merchandise, shall be established at the terminus of the railway. When His Majesty's occupation of the Enclave determines, a Congolese or Belgian Company shall be permitted to possess a commercial depôt and quays on the Nile at this port. Such depôt and quays shall, however, in no case lead to the acquisition of extra-territorial rights, and all individuals in, or connected with, them in the Soudan, shall be wholly subject to Soudanese Laws and Regulations.

VI. Trading vessels flying the Congolese or Belgian flag shall have the right of navigating and trading on the waters of the Upper Nile, no distinction as regards trading facilities being made between them and British or Egyptian trading vessels, but such vessels shall in no case acquire extra-territorial rights, and shall be wholly subject to Soudanese Laws and Regulations.

VII. Persons and merchandise passing through Soudanese or Egyptian territory from the Congo State, or going to it, will, for purposes of transit or transport on the Nile, or on the Soudanese or Egyptian railway systems, be treated similarly to Egyptian or British persons and merchandise coming from or going to British Possessions.

VIII. All disputes which may occur hereafter in connection with the limits of the frontiers of the Independent State of the Congo, including the boundary laid down in the first paragraph of Article II of the present Agreement, shall, in the event of the Parties not being able to come to an amicable understanding, be submitted to the arbitration of the Hague Tribunal, whose decision shall be binding on both Parties, it being, however, understood that this clause can, in no way whatever, be applied to any questions regarding the lease mentioned in Article II of the Agreement signed at Brussels on the 12th May, 1894, and in Article I of the present Agreement.

Done in duplicate at London, the 9th day of May, 1906.