The Railway That Never Was | Precious historical local archives stored in Taiwan

On 11 December 1904, Portugal and China signed a convention for the construction of a railway between Guangzhou and Macau. The Portuguese would operate it for 50 years and then hand it over to the Chinese side.
“In the event of war, rebellion or famine, the Chinese government will have a preferential right to send troops, arms, ammunition and provisions at half the usual rates,” states article 26. “In the event of war, the (railway) company will not render help to the enemies of China.”
Because the Qing dynasty was overthrown seven years later, the line was never built. It was only in 2011 – 107 years later – that the first railway linking Guangzhou to cities on the western side of the Pearl River was completed; the terminus is in Zhuhai, from where passengers can walk to the border with Macau.
The convention is one of 50 documents relating to Macau that are stored in the National Palace Museum (NPM) in Taipei. In 1949, the Nationalists brought the archives of the Foreign Ministry – and many other items – to Taiwan when they moved there.
In December 1999, the museum held an exhibition of these historical treasures at the time of Macau’s return to China. It was called “The Twists of Destiny – a Special Exhibition of Historical Documents on Macau”. They showed the transformation of Macau from a fishing village into a free port and overseas territory of Portugal.
Fung Ming-chu, director of the NPM, said that, historically, the Qing government had no foreign ministry because it saw no need for one. “Its view was that the earth belonged to China and all the countries were its subjects.”
But this view was shattered by defeats to Britain in the Opium War and being forced to sign “unequal treaties” first with Britain and then other countries, under which it had to cede land and open ports to foreign trade.
In 1860, British and French troops destroyed Yuan Ming Yuan, an imperial palace in a northern suburb of Beijing, and looted its contents. The Emperor Xianfeng fled to Chengde, capital of Rehe (Jehol) province, north of Beijing.
These developments forced the government to set up a new department to deal with these unwelcome “barbarians”. This department collected documents related to its work.
In 1901, the government set up the Wai Wu Bu, the Ministry of Foreign Matters. After the Qing dynasty was overthrown in 1911, the new government established the Wai Jiao Bu, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA).
In late 1948 and 1949, the Nationalists moved to Taiwan thousands of art treasures and official documents, including those of the MOFA. In 2003, the National Palace Museum received the documents from the ministry.
“I was very happy to take them,” said Fung. “Conditions here are very good, in terms of temperature and humidity control, to preserve the documents. Then we digitalized them, making them available to a wider public. People can come to our library and see them,” she said.
The NPM opened in November 1965, to house the art treasures brought to Taiwan in 1948 and 1949; it has state-of-the-art conservation and security equipment and is therefore an ideal place to store historical documents.
Macau was the first place in China where foreigners were allowed to live. It became an important trading port for the export of goods from China. Fung said that, compared to Britain and France, Portugal was a weak power. “It enjoyed good relations with China. It was the British who made many demands of the Chinese. It was the signing of the first treaty that was the most difficult. Once China had given rights to Britain, other countries demanded the same. It was easier for them.”
With Portugal, the first treaty in the archives, of Friendship and Commerce, is dated 13 August 1862. It is written in Chinese and Portuguese. After the first Opium War of 1840-1842, Portugal won the right to conduct an opium trade. In 1857, Portugal and Spain demanded a formal treaty, but the Qing government refused. In 1862, without informing the Chinese customs service, Portugal made a shipment from Guangdong to Tianjin; but it was refused entry.
The French consul intervened, saying that Portugal was a friend of France. As a result of his intervention, the two countries signed the treaty. The two countries signed a second Treaty of Friendship and Commerce on 1 December 1887. Since 1862, disputes had arisen between the two over the sovereignty and borders of Macau and the sale of opium. This required negotiations between them.
The Qing government sent an emissary to Lisbon, where the two sides drew up a draft agreement. They signed the final version in Beijing. Under this, the Qing agreed to let the Portuguese remain in Macau in perpetuity and Portugal agreed not to give it to any third country. But the disputes did not end; the Portuguese tried several times to extend the territory of Macau north of the border gate. The Qing were forced to sign several “unequal” treaties with Portugal.
On 1 January 1903, the two countries signed Provisions regarding the Establishment of a Customs House at Macau. The signatories were Gabriel de Almeida e Santos for the Portuguese side and, for the Chinese side, Robert Hart, the Irishman who served as Inspector-General of China’s Imperial Maritime Customs Service between 1863 and 1911.
The archives also contain many maps, often drawn in an attempt to demarcate clearly the borders of Macau and prevent Portugal expanding into Chinese territory.
The railway project was an idea from the Portuguese side. The Qing government was in principle opposed to the building of railways because it believed they destroyed the balance of nature and disturbed the spirits of ancestors sleeping below the ground.
The first railway to operate commercially in China opened in Shanghai in July 1876. Known as the Woosung Road, it was built by the British trading firm, Jardine, Matheson & Co and ran from the American concession in the city to Woosung in what is now the Baoshan district. It was built without government approval; when they found out, they ordered that it be dismantled in October 1877. The rails and rolling stocks were later shipped to Taiwan.
The next effort was by Taiwan governor Liu Mingchuan. From 1887 to 1893, 107 kilometers of track were laid from Keelung to Taipei and Hsinchu. The Portuguese wanted to link Macau with Guangzhou, one of China’s most important commercial cities, and diversify the economy of their colony.
The agreement states that a joint Portuguese-Chinese company would build the railway, with shares held equally by the two sides, led by Pedro Nolasco da Silva and Lam Tac Iun respectively. The Chinese side would provide half the capital and the Portuguese side the other half, including Chinese merchants who lived in Macau or had foreign nationality.
“As this railway is constructed by Portuguese and Chinese merchants, the Portuguese government can under no pretext interfere with the affairs in connection with this company,” the agreement says.
Engineers would survey the land between Macau and Guangzhou, draw up the route and submit it to the Imperial Commissioner, Director-General of Railways, for approval.
The agreement sets out rules for acquiring land and paying compensation to those living on it. “If the land should be occupied by cemeteries, a detour must be made. But, in the case of isolated graves and if no detour is possible, the company will liberally pay the expenses of the removal of the graves in addition to the price of the land.”
The local authorities would explain to people that the railway was designed to increase trade and prosperity. “Everyone must keep order, abstain from creating disturbances and do his own duty, under the penalty of a severe punishment.”
The company had to build a customs house in Macau, where customs officials could examine all the goods being carried on the railway and collect the necessary duties.
Under the agreement, the government granted the company the right to build a sanatorium and summer resort in the Heongshan district and to build schools to train Chinese boys as interpreters and with technical skills needed for the railway.
“The engineers and other persons employed by the railway company, either in any technical or special capacity, may be foreigners, but the labourers of all kinds will be natives.
“If the company becomes bankrupt or is in financial difficulties, the two governments, Portuguese and Chinese, will incur no responsibility and will pay no indemnity.”
Pedro Nolasco da Silva was one of the most prominent Macanese of his generation. Born on 6 May 1842, he was an interpreter, journalist, educator and author. He was president of Leal Senado and founder and president of the Associação Promotora da Instrução dos Macaenses (APIM) (Association to promote the Education of Macau People), which still exists today.
He was founder and director of a school named after him, Escola Comercial Pedro Nolasco, which later become the Escola Portuguesa, in downtown Macau.
Fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese and classical Chinese, he acted as interpreter for the Portuguese government in its negotiations with the Qing dynasty.
He had ten children, among them Henrique, who established a trading company and a pharmacy Pharmacia Popular. The family later sold their shares in these companies.
One of his great-grandsons, Frederico Nolasco, said that he and his brother had never heard of the railway project nor the involvement of his great-grandfather in it. “Most of the family have left Macau and live in Portugal,” he said.  Mark O´Neill, Taipei, MDT/Macauhub exclusive