FRANCE AND CHINA.

Auckland Star, Volume XXI, Issue 4129, 26 September 1883, Page 4

FRANCE AND CHINA.

The telegraphic intelligence published ! during the past few days has been of such • a character as to justify the most serious j fears of an open rupture between France ' and China. The present trouble, as our ' readers are aware, originated about March . last, when M. Lacour intimated that it wa a the intention of the French- Goverment to '. take possession of certain portions of Tonquin.andin the following month instructions * were given that the French squadron at Hong Kong should proceed to Tonquin. This was no new resolve on the part of the French. They had for a very long time past been desirous of carrying out a similar plan, for they have thoroughly recognised the commercial advantages to be gained from possession of the fertile soil and the excellent harbours of Annam, and they have made repeated but unsuccessful endeavours to secure an ascendancy in the empire—the first as far back as the days of Louis XVI. In April last the French ambassador left Hue, the capital of tho empire, and measures were at once taken for the occupation of Tonquin, the ostensible reason for the French interference being, as expressed in an oflicial letter from M. Grevy, that the Government felt called upon to take this step and to control tho relations of the Amiamese empire in consequence 0- the i-Opote ice of Tuduc, King of Annam, to carry out exist', ing treaties and to preserve order in his country. The French Government, M. Grevy further intimated, would collect all customs duties and internal taxes, and by way of compensation would pay to King Tuduc an annual subsidy. The proposal was peremptorily declined, and the Amiamese evincing a determination to resist any attempt to carry it into effect, active steps wero taken by the French to obtain possession of the Tonquin territory. A vote of 5,000,000 francs (1200,000), which was thought sufficient to defray the expenses of the expedition, was passed by the 1 rench Chambers. In May hostilities were commenced, and the French troops, who made a sortie from the Fort of Hanoi, were repulsed by the Annamese. Operations were conducted in an irregular and indecisive manner for a few weeks, when the French were met with a new difficulty, tbe Chinese Government, who have long exercised a sort of suzerainty over the empire, having, in response to an appeal from King Tuduc, sent a formal intimation that unless France would seek to act in conjunction with them in settling the dispute they would have recourse to hostile measures, and assist the Annamese in repelling the invasion. Hostilities were suspended pending negotiations vith the Chinese, which, however, resulted in nothing, and the French garrison at Hanoi, which meanwhile had been reinforced, resumed operations, and driving the Annamese away they set fire to and completely destroyed the town. Just afterwards a heavy flood in the Hanoi River destroyed all the French fortifications, and prevented thoir troops from following up the Annamese, A few weeks later, the floods having subsided, operations were again renewed, the French being generally successful. Meantime the Chinese Government had been sending troops to the frontier, and a formal demand by the French that they should be withdrawn being disregarded, the French decided upon making a naval demonstration at Canton. Just at this juncture further complications arose through the death of the Kingof Annam. Prince Phudac was appointed to succeed him, but the Chinese Government refused to approvo of this nomination, and proclaimed Vianlan as king of Annam. The Chinese troops continued to mass on the frontier, and finally to the number of about 18,000—a number many times in excess of the whole French forces in the territory—they proceeded to march on Hanoi. Further reinforcements were sent to the French, who took Namdhin, one of the fortified positions at the mouth of the Red River. The French ambassador at Pekin was withdrawn owing to the utter failure of the nego- i tiations, several of the principal ports of Anam were blockaded ,andHaidzuong, oneof the chief towns in the kingdom, having a p«pulation of 30,000 inhabitants, was captured. Tho French also had met with several reverses, and experienced considerable difficulty, owing to the recurring floods and the weakness of their forces, which General Bouet declared were quite inadequate to cope with the Annamese themselves, to say nothing of the dangor to be apprehended from the Chinese. Subsequently the French suffered a defeat at I'huhim, the news of which caused considerable excitement at Canton, where serious affrays occurred between the Chinese and Europeans. Another important development then occurred. Hue, the Annamese capital, was bombarded by the French; the Chinese gave additional evidence of their determination to exercise apotentvoice in the settlement of the difficulty by sending a body of regular troops into Tonquin ; but Vianlan, their nominated king, proved weak, and fled from fear on the bombardment of the capital, and Phudac, the pretender to the kingship, tendered his submission to General Bouet, offered the services of the Annamese troops in restoring ordor, and agreed to pay a war indemnity to the French, to whom he also conceded the right of establishing a protectorate over Tonquin, and of controlling the financial administration. The Annamese, however, refused to endorse this capitulation, as did also the Chinese Government, and the former broke out into open rebellion.

This was the position of affairs at the commencement of the present month, when General Btuet, in face of the unmistakably hostile attitude of China, forwarded another urgent appeal to his Government for considerable reinforcements, for the despatch of which immediate orders were given. The large body of Chinese regular troops who had entered Tonquin were marching on Haiphong, one of the French garrisons.and there appeared to bo every reason to anticipate that, failing some arrangement satisfactory to tho Chinese Government being arrived at, a severo war, the consequences or extent of which it would be impossible to foretell, would bo the almost immediate result. The French, according to a telegram sent to the London "Times," had notified to the Chinese Government that unless the troops ; of tho latter were immediately withdrawn from Tonquin, tho French fleet would be instructed to blockade Canton and Pak Hoi. What would be the outcome of such an action as this it is not easy to say, but the blockading of the Chinese porta would be a matter which would affect, not so much the Chinese themselves, who were never anxious that they should be opened, but tho commercial interest, of other European nations, who would, almost to a certainty, be bound to interpose. Should the result that has been feared ensue, France will find herself committed to a task that might well cause stronger nations than herself ix) reflect before entering upon it. The military and naval forces of China are estimated to bo as follows:— Tbo Chinese Army and Navy. The Chinese navy, which dates back to a period beforo the foundation of the British navy, is no longer (says a New York contemporary) a navy of war junks with high bulwarks and pentagonal portholes, and ! with guns mounted on immovable carriages. Chinese naval architecture is now not unlike that of Powers of advanced civilisation. Millions have been spent in tho construction of war steamers of modern type, and in the establishment of dockyards and arsenals in which munitions of war of all kinds may be produced. About 14 years ago M. Miguel, an officer of tho French navy, began building a dockyard on the River Mm, a few miles below the treaty port of Foochow, and which can be easily fortified. At the end of seven years, ironworks, rolling-mills, engine factories and building-slips—in fact, all the plant of a naval yard—were in full working order, in which time the engines, and in some cases the armament, for no less than fifteen vessels were built. There was also a school for naval officers formed; also a training ship was attached to the establishment. In 1876 a navy yard was established near Shanghai, and though thereare afewEnglishmen and Americans holding posts in it, the control of it is exclusively in the hands of the Chinese. The Chinese, however, do not rely upon their own dockyards and constructors alone, for, in addition to the fleet of native production, they have recently had constructed in England a series of gunboats of the latest types, armed with the most improved and heaviest guns. In 1878 Sir William Armstrong built for the Chinese Government four gunboats—the Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta. The first two are 118 feet in length, 27 feet beam, 7_ foet draught, 319 tons burden, and each carrying a 26J-ton gun. The two latter are 120 feet in length, 30 feet beam, 8 feet draught, 400 tons burden, and each carrying a 38-ton gun of British pattern. They are built of iron, and carry 00 tons of coal and 50 rounds of ammunition. Four other gunboats were built on the Tyne, and wero delivered to the Chinese Government in 1879, each being armed with a 35-ton gun of the Armstrong type. They are substantially of the same design as those described above. The most important difference is that they aro built of steel iinstead of iron, and are double-ended (that ::s, their stern and bow lines are of tho same model, and fitted with rudders on each end), to enable them to steam forward or ■backward with almost equal facility. They were originally named the Epeilon, Zeta,'

Eta. and Theta, but were afterwards re* named to something more Chinese—the Chin Pei, Chin Nan, Fel Ting, and Lurg Lang. Their principal dimensions are: 125 feet in length, 29 feet breadth of beam, 12. feet depth of hold, _£ feet draught of water, 440 tons burden, and with an effective speed of 10 knots an hour. Each has two pairs of compound engines, and is propelled by twin screws. Their hulls are divided by four transverse bulkheads, and by longitudinal central bulkheads forward of the engines, thus giving them 9 distinct watertight compartments. The engines, boilers, and magazines are under tbe water line, and are further protected from the shot and shell of the enemy by a horizontal under-water deck over them. The 35-ton gun is pivoted forward. Besides this heavy gun, each has two 12-pounder breech-loading guns astern and two 10-barrelled Gatling guns of 45 calibre, to be fired from various positions, broadside or raking astern. These Chinese gunboats are primarily m l tended for coast defence, but will no doubt give a great deal of trouble to the French war vessels should they attempt to invade the sanctity of the Celestial waters. The Chinese also have eight small iron gunboats of from 100 to 200 tons each, and each carrying from two to seven breechloading guns. At the Foochow arsenal have been built 17 composite (wood and iron) vessols, each mounting one seven-ton or one nine-ton gun, with other light guns • also one composite.corvette carrying if guns —one of 11 tons weight; also three steam transports. The Chinese have also built at Shanghai two wooden frigates and five iron gun vessels. Tho Chinese have also had constructed a supply of torpedo boats, each 52 feet in length, 7 feet in breadth of beam 3_ feet draught of water, and with a speed of IG knots an hour. They are built of steel, in watertight compartments, and arranged to work three spar torpedoes. Two years ago the Chinese Government had built two steel twin-screw cruisers of 1,350 tons burden each, drawing 15 feet of water and with a speed of 10 knots an jjour. Each vessel is provided with four broadside 40-pounder rifles, and two 10-inch breachloading pivot rifles, placed at the bow and stern respectively. They are 213 feet in length and 32 feet breadth of beam. The Chinese also have several steel torpedo boats rigged for the Whitehead and spar torpedoes, 90 feet long and 16 feet beam.

The " Times " of India calls attention to the gigantic stride which China has made in the development of her practically unlimited warlike resources. She is supposed to have a standing army of 1,000,000 men, but the despotic ruler of 300,000,000 people need never look for soldiers. Thero is no such thing as a Chinese army in the sense in which we speak of an English or a Prussian army. Each province finds its own army ' ■■*. complete in itself, the Governor acting as generalissimo, on whom the efficiency of. the force depends. Hence, while there are some provincial armies which constitute a mere rabble armed with seventeenth century weapons, there are others whioh have attained a high state of efficiency and are armed with the best of modern rifles. Thus Li Tsung Tang, Governor of the* I province of Pich-li, has under him a force of 70,000 very efficient troops, armed with the Remington rifle. We have already shown the efficiency of the Kan-su Army with the great military reformer, Tso Tsung Tang. The weak point in the Chinese military system is the officers, the soldier's profession ranking very low in Celestial 11 opinion. Nowhere is the sentiment of Anna cedant togas more forcibly carried into effect than in China. Still, though the Celestials do not imitate the radical reforms inaugurated by their 71 neighbours in Japan, it must not be sup- , posed that they lag very far behind. Of 7 late they have despatched numbers of young ;' men to England and Germany to learn the art of war by land and by sea. China is well supplied with ordnance of the best European manufacture, Krupp having already supplied her with 150 siege guns /! and 270 field -pieces; and with guns in position the Chinese can fight well, as we discovered to our cost at the mouth of thePei-ho, A number of seaboard towns, such as Tientsin, Shanghai, Canton, _c,containarsenels where guns, both light and heavy, are cast, and where breech-loading rifles of the newest pattern are turned out in thousands, with ammunition to match. At the arsenalof Kiang-Nan, Chinese workmen produced in . 1870 20 40-pounder Armstrong guns, which on being tested by European engineers, H were declared to be equal to anything that had ever left Elswick or Woolwich. The" I approaches to the more important seaport. ; 'J are guarded by heavily armed forts, which France would have considerable trouble in "negotiating." Nor could the French 7 have it all their own way on the coast. 7 The French Army aad Havy. The effective strength of the French army in 18S2, according to tbe budget of ;i the Ministry of War, was 498,483 men and 120,075 horses, but tho Gendarmie and the I Garde Republicaine, numbering dtogether 26,512 men and 13,013 horses, were included in those figures. The amy properly so-called was therefore in 1882 only 471,971 men and 113,062 horses; and oi these 52,015 men and nearly 16,000 horses ~ were assigned to Algiers and the various colonial stations. The French navy in the same year consisted of 57 ironclads, 264 ironclad screw steamers, 62 composite steamers, and 113 sailing vessels, carrying vi altogether 2,554 guns.