American Trading Company of Borneo

Summary

The American Trading Company of Borneo was a chartered company formed by Joseph William Torrey, Thomas Bradley Harris together with several Chinese investors shortly after the acquisition over a parcel of land in northern Borneo from the Sultanate of Brunei.[1] The first American settlement in the area soon was named "Ellena",[2] although it was abandoned later due to financial difficulties, diseases and riots among the workers.[3]

The present-day area of "Ellena", once a colony of the United States in present-day Kimanis, Sabah, Malaysia.

History edit

In 1850, the United States and Brunei signed a commercial treaty, which was activated in 1865. Out of this agreement, C.L. Moses, the then US First Consul to the sultanate, was able to secure a lease of a large territorial concession in North Borneo.[4] The grant was made in an effort by the Sultan, who still had to address internal power struggle,[5] to solve the problems of rebellion and piracy in North Borneo.[6] Moses concessions were immediately sold to Torrey, a Hong Kong merchant. Together with his associates, Torrey founded American Trading Company in their attempt to develop plantation agriculture at Kimanis in 1865.[4] This group then sold the lease to Austria's consul in Hong Kong.[6]

International Impact edit

Together with Torrey and Harris, the American Trading Company of Borneo features prominently in the North Borneo Dispute as well as in the history of Sabah, a region now part of Malaysia. The region has seen various territorial disputes, including one between Malaysia and Philippines over claims over the territory. The concessions obtained by Torrey and Harris that led to the formation of American trading Company of Borneo were eventually sold to Gustav Overbeck who signed a concession agreement with the Sultan of Sulu in 1978.

To this day, the 1978 agreement written in Jawi and its interpretation forms the basis of an international dispute between Malaysia and the purported heirs of the last Sultan of Sulu empire.

The claimants filed an arbitration appeal, demanding Malaysia pay $32 billion for exploitation of resources of Sabah, claiming the 1878 agreement underscored that the territory had only been leased.[7] Malaysia maintains that the region surrendered its rights once it agreed to join the Malaysian federation in 1963.

In February 2022, Spanish arbitrator Dr Gonzalo Stampa awarded an almost $15 billion settlement in favor of the claimants, which Malaysia challenged at various legal forums. [8][9][10]The International Court of Justice eventually struck down the award in 2023.[11]

References edit

  1. ^ K. G. Tregonning (November 1954). "American Activity in North Borneo, 1865-1881". Pacific Historical Review. 23 (4): 357–372. doi:10.2307/3634654. JSTOR 3634654.
  2. ^ Richard Ker (August 26, 2012). "Ellena – America's Lost Colony in Kimanis of North Borneo". North Borneo Historical Society. Archived from the original on May 21, 2017. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  3. ^ James W. Gould (1969). The United States and Malaysia. Harvard University Press. pp. 63–. ISBN 978-0-674-92615-8.
  4. ^ a b Singh, D. S. Ranjit (2019). The Indonesia-Malaysia Dispute Concerning Sovereignty over Sipadan and Ligitan Islands: Historical Antecedents and the International Court of Justice Judgment. Singapore: ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. p. 32. ISBN 978-981-4843-64-5.
  5. ^ Fitzgerald, Robert (2015). The Rise of the Global Company: Multinationals and the Making of the Modern World. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 75. ISBN 978-0-521-84974-6.
  6. ^ a b Ciravegna, Luciano; Fitzgerald, Robert; Kundu, Sumit (August 29, 2013). Operating in Emerging Markets: A Guide to Management and Strategy in the New International Economy. Upper Saddle River, NJ: FT Press. p. 77. ISBN 978-0-13-298338-9.
  7. ^ "Heirs to the Sultanate of Sulu v. Malaysia, Final Award, 28 Feb 2022". May 2, 2022. Archived from the original on May 2, 2022. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
  8. ^ "Report: M'sia ordered to pay almost RM63b to Sulu sultan's descendants". Yahoo News. March 1, 2022. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
  9. ^ Network, The Star/Asia News (March 2, 2022). "French court rules Malaysia owes $14.92 billion to sultan of Sulu's heirs". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
  10. ^ "Malaysia files application to annul final award over claims by Sulu sultan's heirs". The Star. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
  11. ^ "Malaysia hails 'decisive victory' over Sulu heirs after French court ruling". South China Morning Post. June 7, 2023. Retrieved February 20, 2024.

External links edit

  •   Media related to Colony Ellena at Wikimedia Commons