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4. The Claim to Sabah
- ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
- Chapter
- Additional Information
tHE cLAIm to SABAH On 22 January 1878, Sultan Jamalul Alam of Sulu executed a document, “with the expressed desire of all Datus in common agreement”, leasing (according to the English translation from the Malay in Arabic script used by the Philippines, but “grant and cede” according to the translation employed by the British) “to Gustavus Baron de Overbeck of Hong Kong, and to Alfred Dent … of London, … as representatives of a British Company, together with their heirs, associates, successors and assigns forever and until the end of time, all rights and powers which we possess over all territories and lands tributary to us on the mainland of the Island of Borneo, … together with all the islands which lie within nine miles of the coast”, defining the metes and bounds of the territory in question in terms of natural features and administrative subdivisions. In return, Overbeck and Dent were to pay the Sultan and “his heirs or successors” five thousand Malayan dollars (increased in 1903 to five thousand three hundred), “to be paid each and every year”. W. H. Treacher, Britain’s Acting Consul General in Borneo, witnessed the Sultan’s seal and signature on the document.1 Six months later, Carlos Martínez, the Spanish Colonel-General (Governor) of Sulu, wrote to Baron de Overbeck informing him that Sultan Jamalul Alam of Sulu had on the same day, 22 July 1878, communicated in writing to the Spanish authorities his decision “to cancel the contract for lease of Sandakan and the rest” on account of Overbeck’s failure “to fulfill the contract of lease”, as well as the fact that “the Crown of Spain has possession of all the territory of this Sultanate”. In his reply to the Governor of Sulu, Overbeck rejected the contract’s cancellation. In a 2 July letter to the “Governor Captain-General of the Philippines”, the Sultan had claimed 0 Where in the World is the Philippines? that he had been forced to sign the contract of lease — or cession — upon Overbeck’s threat that the Captain-General would come, presumably with his forces, and “destroy everything”. In December 1878, Dent and Overbeck recounted the grant of Borneo territories by the Sultan of Sulu and four previous grants by the Sultan of Brunei to a private association formed by Dent “for the purpose of acquiring territorial grants in North Borneo and developing its resources”. They then sought from the British foreign minister a charter of incorporation and regulation for a proposed company that would have extra-territorial jurisdiction over British subjects, British protection, and support by the British government with respect to foreign states. In November 1881, the British government granted the requested charter to the British North Borneo Company. Under the charter, the new company was to take over from the British North Borneo Provisional Association its interests in and powers over territories and property, including specifically those in Borneo and nearby islands. At the same time, the new company would “fulfill the promises of payment and other promises therein made, subject to any subsequent agreement affecting those promises”. Monopoly on trade was expressly prohibited. According to a letter of Earl Granville, the British foreign minister at the time, to the British minister in Madrid, dated 7 January 1882, Spain, as well as The Netherlands, protested against Britain’s grant of a charter to the British North Borneo Company. Earl Granville asserted that neither Britain nor Germany had recognized Spain’s claim to sovereignty over Sulu and its dependencies because of Spain’s failure to maintain control over those territories. By a treaty between Spain and the Sultan of Sulu, signed on 22 July 1878, the Sultan had, according to the Spaniards, recognized Spanish sovereignty over Sulu and its tributaries on the northeastern coast of Borneo. The British, however, continued to object to Spanish claims “to sovereignty over any part of Borneo”. Earl Granville declared that “there was no question of the annexation of North Borneo by Great Britain, or of the establishment of the British Protectorate there”. Going on, he pointed out that “the Crown in the present case assumes no dominion or sovereignty over the territories occupied by the Company … and recognizes the grants of territory and the powers of government made and delegated by the Sultans in whom sovereignty remains vested”. BrItISH movES And pHILIppInE ArGumEntS Nevertheless, on 12 May 1888, Great Britain did establish a protectorate over “the State of North Borneo”. On 26 June 1946, eight days before [44...