Appendix VIII FOREIGN TROOPS IN CHINA A. MR. SZE'S STATEMENT BEFORE THE FAR EASTERN "At the session held on November 21 the Conference declared 'that it was the firm intention of the Powers represented to respect the sovereignty, the independence and the territorial and administrative integrity of China; and to provide the fullest and most unembarrassed opportunity to China to develop and maintain for herself an effective and stable government. "It will have already appeared that, in application of these two principles, China is asking not merely that existing treaty or conventional limitations upon the autonomous and unembarrassed exercise by her of her territorial and administrative powers should be removed as rapidly and as completely as circumstances will justify, but that conditions shall be corrected which now constitute a continuing violation of her rights as an independent State. The proposition that these limitations upon the exercise of her sovereign powers should be progressively removed was stated in Principle No. 5 which the Chinese delegation presented to the Conference on November 16, and applications are seen in the propositions that have been made to the Conference with reference to extraterritorial rights and to tariff autonomy. "A specific illustration of a violation of China's sovereignty and territorial and administrative integrity, as distinguished from limitations based upon agreements to which China has been a party, was presented to the Conference for correction last week and had to do with the maintenance of foreign postal services upon Chinese soil. "This morning it is the desire of the Chinese delegation to bring before you, for correction in accord with the controlling principles which you have already affirmed, several other instances of subsisting violations of China's sovereignty and territorial and administrative integrity. "These relate to the maintenance upon the Chinese territory, without China's consent and against her protests, of foreign troops, railway guards, police boxes and electrical wire and wireless communication installations. "I shall not exhaust your patience by enumerating all of the specific instances of these violations, for I shall not ask merely that each of these violations be specifically discountenanced, for this would not give complete relief to China since it would not prevent other similar violations in the future. In behalf of the Chinese Government, I therefore ask that this Conference declare as a comprehensive proposition, that no one of the Powers here represented-China, of course, not included-shall maintain electrical communication installations, or troops, or railway guards, or police boxes upon Chinese soil, except in those specific cases in which the Powers desiring to do so may be able to show by affirmative and preponderant evidence and argument that it has a right so to do such as can be defended upon the basis of accepted principles of international law and practice and with the consent of the Chinese Government. "No argument by me is needed to show that this Conference stands committed to the declaration which I now ask, by the principles which were adopted on November 21. Should any one of you consider the possibility of foreign troops or railway guards, or police boxes, or electrical communication installations being maintained upon the soil of your own country without the consent of the Government which you represent, your feelings of justice and your sense of the dignity due to your own State would make evident to you the propriety of the joint declaration which China now asks you to make in her behalf. The proposition surely stands self-evident that, if a nation asserts a right to maintain troops or guards, or police, or to erect and operate systems of communication upon the soil of another State, whose sovereignty and independence and territorial and administrative integrity it has just solemnly affirmed and obligated itself to respect, upon that State should lie a heavy burden of proof to justify so grievous an infringement of the rights of exclusive territorial jurisdiction which international law as well as a general sense of international comity and justice recognize as attaching to the status of sovereignty and independence. "In behalf of my Government and the people whom I represent, I therefore ask that the Conference give its approval to the following proposition: "Each of the Powers attending this Conference hereinafter mentioned, to wit, the United States of America, Belgium, the British Empire, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands and Portugal, severally declare that, without the consent of the Government of China, expressly and specifically given in each case, it will not station troops or railway guards or establish and maintain police boxes, or erect or operate electrical communication installations, upon the soil of China; and that if there now exists upon the soil of China such troops or railway guards or police boxes or electrical installations without China's express consent, they will be at once withdrawn.' B. MR. HANIHARA'S STATEMENT BEFORE THE FAR EASTERN COMMITTEE, NOVEMBER 29, 1921 Japanese Troops "The Japanese delegation wishes to explain, as succinctly as possible, why and how the Japanese garrisons in various parts of China have come to be stationed there. At the outset, however, I desire to disclaim most emphatically that Japan has ever entertained any aggressive purposes or any desire to encroach illegitimately upon Chinese sovereignty in establishing or maintaining these garrisons in China. "1. Japanese railway guards are actually maintained along the South Manchurian Railway and the Shantung Railway. "With regard to the Shantung railway guards, Japan believes that she has on more than one occasion made her position sufficiently clear. She has declared and now reaffirms her inten tion of withdrawing such guards as soon as China shall have notified her that a Chinese police force has been duly organized and is ready to take over the charge of the railway protection. "The maintenance of troops along the South Manchuria Railway stands on a different footing. This is conceded and recognized by China under the Treaty of Peking of 1905. (Additional agreement, Art. II.) It is a measure of absolute necessity under the existing state of affairs in Manchuria-a region which has been made notorious by the activity of mounted bandits. Even in the presence of Japanese troops, those bandits have made repeated attempts to raid the railway zone. In a large number of cases, they have cut telegraph lines and committed other acts of ravage. "Their lawless activity on an extended scale has, however, been efficiently checked by Japanese railway guards, and general security has been maintained for civilian residents in and around the railway zone. The efficiency of such guards will be made all the more significant by a comparison of the conditions prevailing in the railway zone with those prevailing in the districts remote from the railway. The withdrawal of railway guards from the zone of the South Manchurian Railway will no doubt leave those districts at the mercy of bandits, and the same conditions of unrest will there prevail as in remote corners of Manchuria. In such a situation it is not possible for Japan to forego the right, or rather the duty, of maintaining railway guards in Manchuria, whose presence is duly recognized by treaty. "2. Toward the end of 1911 the first revolution broke out in China and there was complete disorder in the Hupeh district, which formed the base of the revolutionary operations. As the lives and property of foreigners were exposed to danger, Japan, together with Great Britain, Russia, Germany and other principal Powers, dispatched troops to Hankow for the protection of her people. This is how a small number of troops have come to be stationed at Hankow. The region has since been the scene of frequent disturbances. There was recently a clash between the North and South at Changsha, pillage by troops at Ichang and a mutiny of soldiers at Hankow. Such conditions of unrest have naturally retarded the withdrawal of Japanese troops from Hankow. "It has never been intended that these troops should remain permanently at Hankow, and the Japanese Government have been looking forward to an early opportunity of effecting complete withdrawal of the Hankow garrison. They must be assured, however, that China will immediately take effective measures for the maintenance of peace and that she will fully assume the responsibility for the damage that may be or may have been done to foreigners. "3. The stationing of the garrisons of foreign countries in North China is recognized by the Chinese Government under the protocol relating to the Boxer revolution in 1900. Provided there is no objection from the other countries concerned, Japan will be ready, acting in unison with them, to withdraw her garrison as soon as the actual conditions warrant it. "4. The Japanese troops scattered along the lines of the Chinese Eastern Railway have been stationed in connection with an inter-allied agreement concluded at Vladivostok in 1919. Their duties are to establish communication between the Japanese contingents in Siberia and South Manchuria. It goes without saying, therefore, that these troops will be withdrawn as soon as the evacuation of Siberia by the Japanese troops is effected. "Memorandum-At the present time Japan maintains in China proper approximately 4,500 troops, located as follows: "At Tientsin, two battalions, approximately 1,200 men. "At Hankow, one battalion, approximately 600 men. "In Shantung: At Tsinan, two companies, approximately 300 men; along the Tsinan-Tsingtao Railway and at Tsingtao, four battalions, approximately 2,400 men. "Total, 4,500 men. Japanese Police "In considering the question of Japanese consular police in China, two points must be taken into account: "1. Such police do not interfere with Chinese or other foreign nationals. Their functions are strictly confined to the protection and control of Japanese subjects. |