ABSTRACT

Russia agreed to extend the scope of the Anglo-Russian Agreement to that suggested in September 1898. The attitude which the Russian Government adopted was that the prospectus disclosed facts of which it knew nothing officially. The Russian Government could, with a great deal of reason, maintain that this line would conflict with their railway. There remained nothing now to impede the conclusion of the long-negotiated Russo-British Railway Agreement for China. The Sin-Min-ting extension was also confirmed with the reservation concerning a Russian railway in the same direction. The Sin-Min-ting extension was also confirmed with the reservation concerning a Russian railway in the same direction. The governing group at Peking had already stiffened their attitude towards foreign demands upon them for railways. It was believed that this would make of the Yangtze Valley an exclusive British sphere of enterprise in which British subjects would be able to obtain concessions without difficulty.