APPENDIX B TREATIES AND CONVENTIONS TREATY OF NERCHINSK Signed between Russia and China 27th August, 1689 1. THE boundary between Russia and China is to be formed by the river Kerbechi, near the Shorna, which enters the Amur, and the long chain of mountains extending from its sources to the Eastern Ocean. The rivers or rivulets which flow from the southern slope of these mountains, as well as all territories to the south of them, will thus belong to China. The territories and rivers to the north of the said mountain chain remain with the Empire of Muscovy. The boundary is further to be found by the river Argun, which enters the Amur; the territories south of the said river belong to the Emperor of China, those to the north of it to the Empire of Muscovy. The towns or dwelling-houses at present situated to the south of the Argun shall be moved to the northern bank of the river. 2. The fortress built by the Russians at a place called Atbazeir shall be demolished, and the subjects of the Tsar residing there shall remove with their property to Muscovite territory. Hunters of either empire shall on no pretence cross the frontiers. If one or two persons cross the frontier to hunt, steal, or pilfer, they shall be arrested and given up to the nearest Imperial officers to be punished according to their deserts. In case, however, armed parties of ten or fifteen people cross the frontiers to hunt or plunder, or in case of any person being killed, a report shall be sent in to both emperors, and the parties found guilty shall be punished with death. On no account shall war be declared in consequence of any excess committed by private parties. 3. Everything which has occurred hitherto is to be buried in eternal oblivion. 4. Neither party shall receive fugitives or deserters from the date of this treaty. Subjects of either empire flying to the other shall be arrested and given up to the nearest authority on the frontier. 5. Subjects of Muscovy now in China, or Chinese now in the Empire of Muscovy, may remain where they are. 6. In consideration of this present treaty of peace and the reciprocal good understanding of the two empires, persons may pass from one empire to the other, provided they are furnished with passports, and they shall be permitted to carry on commerce and to sell or purchase at pleasure. Copies of the above treaty, properly signed and sealed, shall be exchanged by the plenipotentiaries. The various articles of the treaty shall be engraved on stones in Tartaric, Chinese, Russian, and Latin, to be erected on the frontiers between the two empires as a permanent testimony to the good understanding between them. TREATY OF NANKING Signed between England and China August 29th, 1842 I. THERE shall henceforward be peace and friendship between Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and His Majesty the Emperor of China and between their respective subjects, who shall enjoy full security and protection for their persons and property within the dominions of the other. II. His Majesty the Emperor of China agrees that British subjects, with their families and establishments, shall be allowed to reside, for the purpose of carrying on their mercantile pursuits, without molestation or restraint, at the cities and towns of Canton, Amoy, Foo-Chow-foo, Ningpo, Shanghai; and Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain, &c., will appoint Superintendents, or Consular officers, to reside at each of the above named cities or towns, to be the medium of communication between the Chinese authorities and the said merchants, and to see that the first duties and other dues of the Chinese Government, as hereafter provided for, are duly discharged by Her Britannic Majesty's subjects. III. It being obviously necessary and desirable that British subjects should have some port whereat they may careen and refit their ships when required, and keep stores for that purpose, His Majesty the Emperor of China cedes to Her Majesty the Queen of Britain &c., the island of Hong Kong, to be possessed in perpetuity by Her Britannic Majesty, her heirs and successors, and to be governed by such laws and regulations as Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain, &c., shall see fit to direct. IV. The Emperor of China agrees to pay the sum of six millions of dollars, as the value of the opium which was delivered up at Canton in the month of March, 1839, as a ransom for the lives of Her Britannic Majesty's Superintendent and subjects who had been imprisoned and threatened with death by the Chinese high officers. V. The Government of China having compelled the British merchants trading at Canton to deal exclusively with certain Chinese merchants, called Hong Kong merchants (or Co-Hong), who had been licensed by the Chinese Government for that purpose, the Emperor of China agrees to abolish that practice in future in all ports where British merchants may reside and to permit them to carry on their mercantile transactions with whatever persons they please; and His Imperial Majesty further agrees to pay to the British Government the sum of three millions of dollars, on account of debts due to British subjects by some of the said Hong Kong merchants, or Co-Hong, who have become insolvent, and who owe very large sums of money to subjects of Her Britannic Majesty. VI. The Government of Her Britannic Majesty having been obliged to send out an expedition to demand and obtain redress for the violent and unjust proceedings of the Chinese high authorities towards Her Britannic Majesty's officer and subjects, the Emperor of China agrees to pay the sum of twelve millions of dollars, on account of the expenses incurred; and Her Britannic Majesty's plenipotentiary voluntarily agrees on behalf of Her Majesty to deduct from the said amount of twelve millions of dollars any sums which may have been received by Her Majesty's combined forces, as ransom for cities and towns in China, subsequent to the 1st day of August, 1841. VII. It is agreed, that the total amount of twenty-one millions of dollars, described in the three preceding articles, shall be paid as follows. Six millions immediately. Six millions in 1843; that is, three millions on or before the 30th of the month of June, and three millions on or before the 31st of December. Five millions in 1844; that is, two millions and a half on or before the 30th of June and two millions and a half on or before the 31st of December. Four millions in 1845; that is, two millions on or before the 30th of June, and two millions on or before the 31st of December. And it is further stipulated, that interest, at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum, shall be paid by the Government of China on any portion of the above sums that are not punctually discharged at the periods fixed. VIII. The Emperor of China agrees to release, unconditionally, all subjects of Her Britannic Majesty (whether natives of Europe or India) who may be in confinement at this moment in any part of the Chinese Empire. IX. The Emperor of China agrees to publish and promulgate, under His Imperial sign manual and Seal, a full and entire amnesty and act of indemnity to all subjects of China, on account of their having resided under, or having had dealings and intercourse with or having entered the service of, Her Britannic Majesty, or of Her Majesty's officers; and His Imperial Majesty further engages to release all Chinese subjects who may be at this moment in confinement for similar reasons. His Majesty the Emperor of China agrees to establish at all the ports which are, by article 2 of this treaty, to be thrown open for the resort of British merchants, a fair and regular tariff of export and import customs and other dues, which tariff shall be publicly notified and promulgated for general information, and the Emperor further engages that when British merchandise shall have been once paid at any of the said ports the regulated custom and dues, agreeable to the tariff to be hereafter fixed, such merchandise may be conveyed by Chinese merchants to any province or city in the interior of the Empire of China, on paying a further amount as transit duties, which shall not exceed 1 per cent on the tariff value of such goods. XI. It is agreed that Her Britannic Majesty's Chief Officer in China shall correspond with the Chinese high officers both at the capital and in the Provinces, under the term "communication"; the subordinate British officers and Chinese high officers in the 1 See declaration on this subject, which follows the treaty. |