On the 29th of March the completion of the transaction by which China transferred Port Arthur and Talienwan to Russia was officially announced at St. Petersburg by the following publication in the "Official Messenger": "At Peking on the 15th (27th) March a special Agreement was signed by the Plenipotentiaries of Russia and China, by virtue of which Ports Arthur and Talienwan, with the corresponding territory and waters, have been ceded to the Imperial Government for twenty-five years—which period, by mutual agreement, may be still further prolonged—and the construction allowed of branches of railways in order to connect these ports with the main Great Siberian line. This Agreement is a direct and natural outcome of the friendly relations between great neighbouring Empires, all of whose endeavours should be directed towards the preservation of tranquillity along the vast extent of their neighbouring possessions for the common benefit of the people of both of them. The peaceful occupation, by the diplomatic Agreement of the 15th March, of the ports and territory of a friendly nation shows, in the best possible way, that the Government of China truly appreciates the meaning of the Agreement established between us. "Securing the inviolability of the sovereign rights of China, and satisfying the daily requirements of Russia in her capacity of a great and neighbouring naval Power, this Agreement can in no way insure [injure?] the interests of any other foreign Power; on the contrary, it gives to all nations of the world the possibility in the near future of entering into communication with this hitherto closed-up country on the coast of the Yellow Sea. The opening to the commercial fleets of all foreign nations of the port of Talienwan creates in the Pacific Ocean a new and extended centre for the commercial and trading undertakings of those nations, especially by means of the Great Siberian line, henceforth to be taken into account, and which, thanks to the friendly Treaty between Russia and China, will unite the extreme ends of the Old World. Thus, the Agreement signed at Peking has for Russia a deep historical signification, and must be joyfully welcomed by all to whom happy peace and successes, based on the mutual understandings of nations, are dear." {88}