Convention between the United Kingdom and China respecting Tibet, 1906
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Convention between the United Kingdom and China respecting Tibet, signed April 27, 1906
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 recognize the validity of or to carry into full effect the provisions of the Anglo-Chinese Convention of March 17, 1890, and Regulations of December 5th, 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 7th, 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 11th, 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 Dis- tinguished 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 Commis- sioner 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 con- cluded the following Convention in six articles:
Article I.
The Convention concluded on September 7th, 1904, by Great Britain and Tibet, the texts of which in English and Chinese are attached to the present Convention as an annexe, 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.
Art. 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.
Art. III.
The concessions which are mentioned in Article 9 (d) of the Convention concluded on September 7th 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 2 of the aforesaid Convention, Great Britain shall be entitled to lay down telegraph lines connecting with India.
Art. IV.
The provisions of the Anglo-Chinese Convention of 1890 and Regulations of 1893 shall, subject to the terms of this present Con- vention and annexe thereto, remain in full force.
Art. 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.
Art. 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-hsu.
[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, Declaration signed by His Excellency the Viceroy and GovernorGeneral of India on behalf of the British Government and appended to the ratified Convention of the 7th September 1904. Conrenlioaa between the Cov;cr,+vnenls of Great Britain and Tibet. [Signed also in Chinese.]
Whereas, doubts and difficulties have arisen as to the meaning and validity of the Anglo-Chinese Convention of 1890, and the Trade Regu- lations of 1893, and as to liabilities of the Tibetan Government under these agreements; and whereas recent occurrences have tended towards a disturbance of the relations of friendship and good understanding which have existed between the British Government and the Govern- ment of Tibet; and whereas, it is desirable to restore peace and amic- able relations, and to resolve and determine the doubts and difficulties as aforesaid, the said Governments have resolved to conclude a Con- vention with these objects, and the following articles have been agreed upon by Colonel F. E. Younghusband, C. I. E., in virtue of full powers vested in him by His Britannic Majesty's Government and on behalf of that said Government, and Lo-sang Gyal-Tsen, the Ga-den Ti-Rimpoche, and the representatives of the Council, of the three monasteries Se-ra, Dre-pung and Ga-den, and of the ecclesiastical and lay officials of the National Assembly on behalf of the Government of Tibet.
I.
The Government of Tibet engages to respect the Anglo-Chinese Convention of 1890 and to recognize the frontier between Sikkim and Tibet, as defined in Article I of the said Convention, and to erect bound- ary pillars accordingly.
II.
The Tibetan Government undertakes to open forthwith trade marts to which all British and Tibetan subjects shall have free right of access at Gyantse and Gartok, as well as at Yatung.
The regulations applicable to the trade mart at Yatung, under the Anglo-Chinese Agreement of 1893, shall, subject to such amendments as may hereafter be agreed upon by common consent between the British and Tibetan Governments, apply to the marts above mentioned.
In addition to establishing trade marts at the places mentioned, the Tibetan Government undertakes to place no restrictions on the trade by existing routes, and to consider the question of establishing fresh trade marts under similar conditions if development of trade requires it.
III.
The question of the amendment of the Regulations of 1893 is reserved for separate consideration, and the Tibetan Government undertakes to appoint fully authorized delegates to negotiate with representatives of the British Government as to the details of the amendments required.
1V.
The Tibetan Government undertakes to levy no dues of any kind other than those provided for in the tariff to be mutually agreed upon.
V.
The Tibetan Government undertakes to keep the roads to Gyantse and Gartok from the frontier clear of all obstruction and in a state of repair suited to the needs of the trade, and to establish at Yatung, Gyantse, and Gartok, and at each of the other trade marts that may hereafter be established, a Tibetan Agent who shall receive from the British Agent appointed to watch over British trade at the marts in question any letter which the latter may desire to send to the Tibetan or to the Chinese authorities. The Tibetan Agent shall also be responsible for the due delivery of such communications and for the transmission of replies.
Vl.
As an indemnity to the British Government for the expense incurred in the despatch of armed troops to Lhasa, to exact reparation for breaches of treaty obligations, and for the insults offered to and attacks upon the British Commissioner and his following and escort, the Tibetan Government engages to pay a sum of pounds five hundred thousand-equivalent to rupees seventy-five lakhs-to the British Government.
The indemnity shall be payable at such place as the British Government may from time to time, after due notice, indicate whether in Tibet or in the British districts of Darjeeling or Jalpaiguri, in seventy-five annual instalments of rupees one lakh each on the 1st January in each year, beginning from the 1st January 1906.
VII.
As security for the payment of the above-mentioned indemnity, and for the fulfilment of the provisions relative to trade marts specified in Articles II, III, IV and V, the British Government shall continue to occupy the Ghumbi valley until the indemnity has been paid and until the trade marts have been effectively opened for three years, whichever date may be the later.
VIII.
. The Tibetan Government agrees to raze all forts and fortifications and remove all armaments which might impedo the course of free communication between the British frontier and the towns of Gyantse and Lhasa.
ix.
The Government of Tibet engages that, without the previous consent of the British Government-
(a) no portion of Tibetan territory shall be ceded, sold, leased, mortgaged or otherwise given for occupation, to any Foreign Power;
(b) no such Power shall be permitted to intervene in Thibetan affairs :
(c) no representatives or Agents of any Foreign Power shall be admitted to Tibet;
(d) no concessions for railways, roads, telegraphs, mining or other rights, shall be granted to any Foreign Power, or to the subject of any Foreign Power. In the event of consent to such concessions being granted, similar or equivalent concessions shall be granted to the British Government;
(e) no Tibetan revenues, whether in kind or in cash, shall be pledged or assigned to any Foreign Power, or to the subject of any Foreign Power.
In witness whereof the negotiators have signed the same, and affixed thereunto the seals of their arms. Done in quintuplicate at Lhasa, this .7th day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and four, corre sponding with the Tibetan date, the 27th day of the seventh month of the Wood Dragon year.
This Convention was ratified by the Viceroy and GovernorGeneral of India in Council at Simla on the eleventh' day of November, A.D., one thousand nine hundred and four.
S. Al. FRASER,
Secretary to the Government of India,
Foreign Department.
Declaration signed by his Excellency the Viceroy and GovenorGeneral of India and appended to the ratified Convention of 7th September 1904.
His Excellency the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, having ratified the Convention which was concluded at Lhasa on 7th September 1904 by Colonel Younghusband, C.T.E., British Commissioner for Tibet Frontier Matters, on behalf of His Britannic Majesty's Government; and by Lo-Sang Gyal-Tsen,'the Ga-den Ti-Rimpoche, and the representatives of the Council, of the three monasteries Sera, Drepung, and Ga-den, and of the ecclesiastical and lay officials of the National Assembly, on behalf of the Government of Tibet, is pleased to direct as an act of grace that the suns of money which the Tibetan Government have bound themselves under the terms of Article VI of the said Convention to pay to His Majesty's Government as an indemnity for the expenses incurred by the latter in connection with the despatch of armed forces to Lhasa, be reduced from Rs. 75,00,000 to Rs. 25,00,000; and to declare that the British occupation of the Chumbi valley shall cease after the due payment of three annual instalments of the said indemnity as fixed by the said Article, provided, however, that the trade marts as stipulated in Article H of the Convention shall have been effectively opened for three, years as provided in Article VI of the Convention; and that, in the meantime, the Tibetans shall have faithfully complied with the terms of, the said Convention in all other respects.
AMPTHILL,
Viceroy and Governor-General of India.
This declaration was signed by the Viceroy and GovernorGeneral of India in Council at Simla on the eleventh day of November, A.D., one thousand nine hundred and four.
S. M FRASER,
Secretary to the Government of India
Foreign Department.
See also
Anglo-Chinese Conventions of 1890 and 1893
Convention between the United Kingdom and China respecting Tibet, 1906
