中国驻英大使致英国外交部抗议在英属地(加拿大和澳大利亚)立法歧视华人的信
A draft of an official letter from the Chinese Ambassador to England to the British Foreign Minister describing the discriminatory laws and practices in British Columbia towards Chinese people and requesting that the restrictiveness of the immigration law be lessened. 30 July 1891 （光绪十七年六月二十五日）
- In Collection:
- 2 pages
- Request from the Chinese Ambassador to England to the British Foreign Minister
- 53.99983, -125.0032
- 1876 to 1891
- Chinese Canadian Collection
- Donor: Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (Victoria, B.C.)
- Acc. No.: 1977-084, 1.2, 1.2.04
- Finding aid for archival fonds: https://uvic2.coppul.archivematica.org/chinese-consolidated-benevolent-association-fonds
- July 30, 2007
- June 25，1891 The Honorable Minister, Since the establishment of the Chinese Embassy to England in London in 1876, all of my predecessors lodged protests against discriminating treatment to the Chinese who reside in or travel to the British dependencies. All efforts failed except in one case, which was handled by the Honorable Liu, that the discriminating laws were abolished in British Columbia. The conditions of the Chinese there have not been improved, because in Australia Chinese are not permitted to enter, and in Canada the Central Parliaments have renewed the bad laws that were passed by the British Columbia Parliament, with only minor changes. The Canadian new laws regulate that Chinese are forbidden to enter Canada from 1886 on. The laws state at the beginning that these laws are ordered by the Queen, and approved by the Canadian Parliaments. The Chinese Government is discontented with, and protested against for many times, the discriminating laws that Chinese are not allowed to enter these dependencies, not because these laws are too harsh in imposing restrictions, or too heavy in levying tax, but because these laws are purposely made not to allow Chinese to enter these territories. These laws obviously state that it is not a restriction of number of persons allowed, but a restriction on Chinese. This shows contempt for China, not treating China as a friendly nation. On 24th and 25th February this year, the British Columbia Parliament debated whether Japanese should be treated the same as Chinese not to be allowed to enter their territory, Japanese is eventually not included. This is not because the gentlemen of the Parliament love Japanese more, or it is a better choice to allow Japanese in, but because they are afraid that this will offend the Japanese Government. I really can not understand why the British Columbia Parliament could treat China and Japan differently, and could treat the Chinese, who reside in the British dependencies, differently from other nationalities, who reside there as well. There have been strong business relations between these dependencies and China, and the dependencies get the same treatment as England in accordance with the treaties signed with China. In future if the dependencies want to be treated the same as England, they have to follow the treaties and Law of Nations as England does. It is understandable for the dependencies to make laws to restrict too many immigrants. However, the fact that Australia and Canada make laws that treat Chinese, people from a friendly nation, as the inferior, or as the enemy is not acceptable to the Chinese Government. Concerning this issue my predecessors, for many times, addressed notes to your honor. They lodged protests in accordance with Law of Nations and the treaties signed between our two nations. I am hereby presenting the above-mentioned facts to your honor to forward to the Prime Minister, and I hope the British Government can abolish these bad laws as soon as possible. We, the Chinese Government, hold the view that it is not only contempt to China, but also impediment to the growing friendship between the peoples of our two nations. We can not give free rein to this intention, the Governments of our two nations should try to find a resolution. Yours sincerely
- 600 dpi TIFF, no colour correction, archived in Cataloguing on DVD, digitized by CDW. Metadata by MH and KD.
- Rights
- Contact Special Collections and University Archives for access to the original manuscript and for reproduction requests (speccoll@uvic.ca). This material is made available on this site for research and private study only.
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