TREATY OF COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION BETWEEN JAPAN AND CHINA
Signed at Peking, July 21, 1896.
ARTICLE I
There shall be perpetual peace and friendship between His Majesty the Emperor of Japan and His Majesty the Emperor of China, and between their respective subjects who shall enjoy equally in the respective countries of the High Contracting Parties full and entire protection for their persons and property.
ARTICLE II
It is agreed by the High Contracting Parties that His Majesty the Emperor of Japan may, if He see fit, accredit a Diplomatic Agent to the Court of Peking and His Majesty the Emperor of China may, if He see fit, accredit a Diplomatic Agent to the Court of Tokio.
The Diplomatic Agent thus accredited shall respectively enjoy all the prerogatives, privileges and immunities accorded by international law to such Agents and they shall also in all respects be entitled to the treatment extended to similar Agents of the most favoured nation.
Their persons, families, suites, establishments, residences and correspondence shall be held inviolable. They shall be at liberty to select and appoint their own officers, courtiers, interpreters, servants and attendants without any kind of molestation.
ARTICLE III
His Majesty the Emperor of Japan may appoint Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls and Consular Agents to reside at such of the ports, cities and towns of China, which are now, or may hereafter be, opened to foreign residence and trade, as the interests of the Empire of Japan may require.
These officers shall be treated with due respect by the Chinese Authorities, and they shall enjoy all the attributes, authority, jurisdiction, privileges and immunities which are, or may hereafter be, extended to smilar officers of the nation most favoured in these respects.
His Majesty the Emperor of China may likewise appoint Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls and Consular Agents to reside at any or all of those places in Japan, where Consular officers of other nations are now, or may hereafter be, admitted, and, saving in the matter of jurisdiction in respect of Chinese subjects and property in Japan, which is reserved to the Japanese Judicial Courts, they shall enjoy the rights and privileges that are usually accorded to such officers.
ARTICLE IV
Japanese subjects may, with their families, employés and servants, frequent, reside and carry on trade, industries and manufactures, or pursue any other lawful avocations in all the ports, cities and towns of China, which are now, or may hereafter be, opened to foreign residence and trade. They are at liberty to proceed to or from any of the open ports with their merchandise and effects, and within the localities at those places which have already been,
or may hereafter be, set apart for the use and occupation of foreigners, they are allowed to rent or purchase houses, rent or lease land, and to build churches, cemeteries and hospitals, enjoying in all respects the same privileges and immunities as are now, or may hereafter be, granted to the subjects or citizens of the most favoured nation.
ARTICLE V
Japanese vessels may touch for the purpose of landing and shipping passengers and merchandise in accordance with the existing Rules and Regulations concerning foreign trade there at all those places in China, which are now ports of call, namely, Nganching, Tatung, Hu-kow, Wu-sueh, Lu-chi-kow and Woosung and such other places as may hereafter be made ports of call also. If any vessel should unlawfully enter ports other than open ports and ports of call in China or carry on clandestine trade along the coast or rivers, the vessel with her cargo shall be subject to confiscation by the Chinese Government.
ARTICLE VI
Japanese subjects may travel, for their pleasure or for purposes of trade, to all parts of the interior of China, under passports issued by Japanese Consuls and countersigned by the Local Authorities. These passports, if demanded, must be produced for examination in the localities passed through. If the passports be not irregular, the bearers will be allowed to proceed and no opposition shall be offered to their hiring of persons, animals, carts or vessels for their own conveyance or for the carriage of their personal effects or merchandise. If they be without passports or if they commit any offence against the law, they shall be handed over to the nearest Consul for punishment, but they shall only be subject to necessary restraint and in no case to ill-usage. Such passports shall remain in force for a period of thirteen Chinese months from the date of issue. Any Japanese subject travelling in the interior without a passport shall be liable to a fine not exceeding three hundred Taels. Japanese subjects may, however, without passports go on excursions from any of the ports open to trade, to a distance not exceeding one hundred Chinese li and for a period not exceeding five days. The provisions of this Article do not apply to crews of ships.
ARTICLE VII
Japanese subjects residing in the open ports of China may take into their service Chinese subjects and employ them in any lawful capacity without restraint or hindrance from the Chinese Government or Authorities.
ARTICLE VIII
Japanese subjects may hire whatever boats they please for the conveyance of cargo or passengers and the sum to be paid for such boats shall be settled between the parties themselves, without the interference of the Chinese Government or officers. No limit shall be put upon the number of boats, neither shall a monopoly in respect either of the boats or of the porters or coolies engaged in carrying goods be granted to any parties. If any smuggling takes place in them the offenders will of course be punished according to law.
ARTICLE IX
The Tariffs and Tariff Rules now in force between China and the Western Powers shall be applicable to all articles upon importation into China by Japanese subjects or from Japan, or upon exportation from China by Japanese subjects or to Japan. It is clearly understood that all articles, the importation or exportation of which is not expressly limited or prohibited by the Tariffs and Tariff Rules existing between China and the Western Powers, may be freely imported into and exported from China, subject only to the payment of the stipulated import or export duties. But in no case shall Japanese subjects be called upon to pay in China other or higher import or export duties than are, or may be, paid by the subjects or citizens of the most favoured nation ; nor shall any article imported into China from Japan or exported from China to Japan be charged upon such importation or
exportation other or higher duties than are now, or may hereafter be, imposed in China on the like article when imported from or exported to the nation most favoured in those respects.
ARTICLE X
All articles duly imported into China by Japanese subjects or from Japan shall, while being transported, subject to the existing Regulations, from one open port to another, be wholly exempt from all taxes, imposts, duties, lekin, charges and exactions of every nature and kind whatsoever, irrespective of the nationality of the owner or possessor of the articles, or the nationality of the conveyance or vessel in which the transportation is made.
ARTICLE XI
It shall be at the option of any Japanese subject desiring to convey duly imported articles to an inland market to clear his goods of all transit duties by payment of a commutation transit tax or duty, equal to one-half of the import duty in respect of dutiable articles, and two and half per cent. upon the value in respect of duty free articles ; and on payment thereof a certificate shall be issued, which shall exempt the goods from all further inland charges whatsoever. It is understood that this Article does not apply to imported opium.
ARTICLE XII
All Chinese goods and produce purchased by Japanese subjects in China elsewhere than at an open port thereof and intended for export abroad, shall in every part of China be freed from all taxes, imposts, duties, lekin, charges and exactions of every nature and kind whatsoever, saving only export duties when exported, upon the payment of a commutation transit tax or duty calculated at the rate mentioned in the last preceding Article substituting export duty for import duty, provided such goods and produce are actually exported to a foreign country within the period of twelve months from the date of the payment of the transit tax ; all Chinese goods and produce purchased by Japanese subjects at the open ports of China and of which export to foreign countries is not prohibited shall be exempt from all internal taxes, imposts, duties, lekin, charges and exactions of every nature and kind whatsoever, saving only export duties upon exportation and all articles purchased by Japanese subjects in any part of China, may also, for the purposes of export abroad, be transported from open port to open port, subject to the existing Rules and Regulations.
Merchandise of a bona fide foreign origin, in respect of which full import duty shall have been paid, may at any time within three years from the date of importation be re-exported from China by Japanese subjects to any foreign country, without the payment of any export duty ; and the re-exporters shall, in addition, be entitled forthwith to receive from the Chinese Customs drawback certificates for the amount of import duty paid thereon, provided that the merchandise remains intact and unchanged in its original packages. Such drawback certificates shall be immediately redeemable in ready money by the Chinese Customs Authorities at the option of the holders thereof.
ARTICLE XIV
The Chinese Government consents to the establishment of Bonded Warehouses at the several open ports of China. Regulations on the subject shall be made hereafter.
ARTICLE XV
Japanese merchant vessels of more than one hundred and fifty tons burden entering the open ports of China, shall be charged tonnage dues at the rate of four mace per registered ton ; if of one hundred and fifty tons and under, they shall be charged at the rate of one mace per registered ton. But any such vessel taking its departure within forty-eight hours after arrival, without breaking bulk, shall be exempt from the payment of tonnage dues.
Japanese vessels having paid the above specified tonnage dues shall thereafter be exempt from all tonnage dues in all the open ports and ports of call of China
for the period of four months from the date of clearance from the port where the payment of such tonnage dues is made. Japanese vessels shall not, however, be required to pay tonnage dues for the period during which they are actually undergoing repairs in China.
No tonnage dues shall be payable on small vessels and boats employed by Japanese subjects in the conveyance of passengers, baggage, letters, or duty free articles between any of the open ports of China. All small vessels and cargo boats, however, conveying merchandise which is, at the time of such conveyance, subject to duty, shall pay tonnage dues once in four months at the rate of one mace per ton.
No fee or charges other than tonnage dues shall be levied upon Japanese vessels and boats, and it is also understood that such vessels and boats shall not be required to pay other or higher tonnage dues than the vessels and boats of the most favoured nation.
ARTICLE XVI
Any Japanese merchant vessel arriving at an open port of China shall be at liberty to engage the services of a pilot to take her into port. In like manner, after she has discharged all legal dues and duties and is ready to take her departure, she shall be allowed to employ a pilot to take her out of port.
ARTICLE XVII
Japanese merchant vessels compelled on account of injury sustained or any other cause to seek a place of refuge, shall be permitted to enter any nearest port of China, without being subject to the payment of tonnage dues or duties upon goods landed in order that repairs to the vessel may be effected, provided the goods so landed remain under the supervision of the Customs Authorities. Should any such vessel be stranded or wrecked on the coast of China, the Chinese Authorities shall immediately adopt measures for rescuing the passengers and crew and for securing the vessel and cargo. The persons thus saved shall receive friendly treatment, and, if necessary, shall be furnished with means of conveyance to the nearest Consular station. Should any Chinese merchant vessel be compelled on account of injury sustained or any other cause to seek a place of refuge in the nearest port of Japan, she shall likewise be treated in the same way by the Japanese Authorities.
ARTICLE XVIII
The Chinese Authorities at the several open ports shall adopt such means as they may judge most proper to prevent the revenue suffering from fraud or smuggling.
ARTICLE XIX
If any Japanese vessel be plundered by Chinese robbers or pirates, it shall be the duty of the Chinese Authorities to use every endeavour to capture and punish the said robbers or pirates, and to recover and restore the stolen property.
ARTICLE XX
Jurisdiction over the persons and property of Japanese subjects in China is reserved exclusively to the duly authorized Japanese Authorities, who shall hear and determine all cases brought against Japanese subjects or property by Japanese subjects, or by the subjects or citizens of any other Power, without the intervention of the Chinese Authorities.
ARTICLE XXI
If the Chinese Authorities or a Chinese subject make any charge or complaint of civil nature against Japanese subjects or in respect of Japanese property in China, the case shall be heard and decided by the Japanese Authorities.
In like manner all charge and complaints of a civil nature brought by Japanese Authorities or subjects in China against Chinese subjects or in respect of Chinese property, shall be heard and determined by the Chinese Authorities.
ARTICLE XXII
Japanese subjects charged with the
commission of any crimes or offences in China shall be tried, and, if found guilty, punished by the Japanese Authorities according to the laws of Japan.
In like manner Chinese subjects charged with the commission of any crimes or offences against Japanese subjects in China, shall be tried and if found guilty, punished by the Chinese Authorities according to the laws of China.
ARTICLE XXIII
Should any Chinese subjects fail to discharge debts incurred to a Japanese subject, or should he fraudulently abscond, the Chinese Authorities will do their utmost to effect his arrest, and enforce recovery of the debts. The Japanese Authorities will likewise do their utmost to bring to justice any Japanese subject who fraudulently absconds or fails to discharge debts incurred by him to a Chinese subject.
ARTICLE XXIV
If Japanese subjects in China, who have committed offences or have failed to discharge debts and fraudulently abscond, should flee to the interior of China or take refuge in houses occupied by Chinese subjects or on board of Chinese ships, the Chinese Authorities shall at the request of the Japanese Consul, deliver them to the Japanese Authorities.
In like manner if Chinese subjects in China, who have committed offences or have failed to discharge debts and fraudulently abscond, should take refuge in houses occupied by Japanese subjects in China or on board of Japanese ships in Chinese waters, they shall be delivered up, at the request of the Chinese Authorities made to the Japanese Authorities.
ARTICLE XXV
The Japanese Government and its subjects are hereby confirmed in all privileges, immunities and advantages conferred on them by the Treaty stipulations between Japan and China, which are now in force ; and it is hereby expressly stipulated that the Japanese Government and its subjects will be allowed free and equal participation in all privileges, immunities and advantages that may have been, or may be hereafter, granted by His Majesty the Emperor of China to the Government or subjects of any other nation.
ARTICLE XXVI
It is agreed that either of the High Contracting Parties may demand a revision of the tariffs and of the Commercial Articles of this Treaty at the end of ten years from the date of the exchange of the ratifications ; but if no such demand be made on either side and no such revision be effected, within six months after the end of the first ten years, then the Treaty and Tariffs, in their present form, shall remain in force for ten years more, reckoned from the end of the preceding ten years, and so it shall be at the end of each successive period of ten years.
ARTICLE XXVII
The High Contracting Parties will agree upon Rules and Regulations necessary to give full effect to this Treaty. Until such Rules and Regulations are brought into actual operation, the Arrangements, Rules and Regulations subsisting between China and the Western Powers, so far as they are applicable and not inconsistent with the provisions of this Treaty, shall be binding between the Contracting Parties.
ARTICLE XXVIII
The present Treaty is signed in the Japanese, Chinese and English languages. In order, however, to prevent future discussions, the Plenipotentiaries of the High Contracting Parties have agreed upon that in case of any divergence in the interpretation between the Japanese and Chinese texts of the Treaty, the difference shall be settled by reference to the English text.