The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo. FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 1901. THE NEGOTIATIONS IN CHINA.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXII, Issue 51, 1 March 1901, Page 4

The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo.

FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 1901. THE NEGOTIATIONS IN CHINA.

For the causa tiiat lacks assietanca, For the wrong that noods resistance, For tlio future lv the distanco. And the good that wo oan do.

As far as the rabies go, it seems that China has accepted practically ail the conditions offered by the; Allies for the consideration of the Emperor. Long' ago the chief Court officials and the few Europeans who understand the Oriental point of view had decided that China might accept all these terms without "losing: face." The joint Note was presented by the European Ministers so far back as December 20th; but the subsequent delay has been caused by the intricate methods of Eastern diplomacy, aided by the natural desire of the Chinese

to gain time

The Note opens with a long preamble, reciting the misdeeds for which China is to be punished, "crimes unprecedented in the history of mankind." The murder of the German Ambassador, Baron yon Ketteler, and the Japanese Chancellor of Legation, M. Sugiyama, and ihe attack on the Embassies by Imperial troops, the torture and assassination of foreigners in Pekin and elsewhere by Boxers and Imperial troops acting in complicity with thorn, the desecration of foreign cemeteries. Hiese offences

"againsi the iaw of nations, humanity and civilisation" merit and demand the most exemplary punishment. The

•'irrevocable conditions" with which the Powers will be satisfied are briefly as follows:—An Imperial Prince must convoy to Berlin the Emperor's regrets for the murder of Baron yon Ketteler, and a monument inscribed to the same effect must be erected on the scene of the murder. The most sever* punishment possible for offenders of high rank must be' inflicted on certain persons designated by the Emperor in September last as accomplices of the Boxers—Tuan, Chuung, Chaoshuehiao, i'angyi, and others. All official exuminations are to be suspended for five years in cities where foreigners have been ill treated. Honourable reparation must be made to Japan for the murder of Sugiyama, The importation and manufacture of arms and war material are strictly forbidden. An "equitable" indemnity is to be paid to the injured Powers; and the Chinese Government shall make financial arrangements acceptable to the Powers to secure its payment. The Legations mid 'diplomatic quarters shall be fortified and strongiy guarded. The Taku forts and those between Pekin and the sea must be destroyed. Proclamations shall be posted throughout the provinces threatening death to anyone joining an anti-foreign society, and making the Governor,} or the provinces responsible for the safety of foreigners within their borders. The commercial treaties must be revised to allow of greater facilities for foreign trade. The ?'■sung-li-Yamen must be reformed, and the Court ceremonial for the reception of foreign Ministers must be modified. The Note concludes with the. emphatic statement that nntil China complies with these terms the Powers can hold out no hope that they will withdraw foreign troops from Pekin within any fixed limit of time. ""The Powers seem to have been fairly unanimous about these conditions. The United States Minister hesitated about signing for two days, and Great Britain insisted upon the addition of the last clause detaining foreign troops until the terms of the Note were carried out. There was :i long discussion as to the precise way in which China's acceptance of the Note should be expressed, and a polyglot war raged around the dubious phrase "to comply with." Just at this juncture Li Hung Chang fell ill, and Prince Clung, who has neither his influence nor experience, had to conduct the negotiations alone. On December 30th the Emperor ordered that the terms of the Allies should be accepted. But a little later Chang Chih Tang, the anti-foreign power at Court, persuaded the Emperor to order Li Hung Chang to delay signature till the terms about the fortification of the Embassies were modified, and the Court was excused from all complicity in Boxer outrages. More delay followed, and the position of the Allies was growing daily more difficult. The ' question of supplies was serious, and the jealousy between the different nationalities made concerted action almost impracticable. Dr. Morrison interviewed Li Hung Chang, and the old statesman decleared that he and Ching would ignore the second Imperial edict and act upon the first, which authorised

complete acceptance of the terms. The British Minister then complained that la Hung Chang1 invariably knew every thing1 that happened at the secret meetings of the foreign envoys within a cotiple of hours, and the Ministers held a stormy interview, at which they seem to have accused each other of revealing to the enemy what they had all pledged their honour to conceal. All these things took time, and the procrastination dear to the Oriental mind finally wore out the patience of the European Ministers. They threatened to march at once to Singanfu, and at last the Emperor's advisers allowed the Imperial seal to be affixed to the treaty. Ever since the Foreign Ministers have been discovering that it is one thing to extract a promise from China, and quite another matter to get it satisfactorily carried out. China lias everything to gain by delay. Russia poses as her friend, and if it comes to a death struggle Japan will never support a coalition of the West against the East. Every one of the conditions enumerated above affords limitless scope for argument and definition. The question of the indemnity and its division is, by 'itself, sufficiently perplexing to dissolve the concert. Meanwhile the Imperial Court has devoted itself to the task of "saving1 face" by interpreting the terms of the Note in ways consistent with the Oriental sense of dignity and self-respect. In China prestige *is nine-tenths of power, and it may make a great deal of difference to the Emperor's reputation among his subjects if he can arrange that some of the criminal officials condemned to execution should be allowed to commit suicide. Ho far as it goes it is satisfactory to reflect that China has been overawed by the Allies into formal acceptance of their terms. But it does not seem that the Powers are brought much nearer to the ultimate solution of the Chinese puzzle than they were before.