THE FAR EAST.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 317, 2 October 1908, Page 4

THE FAR EAST.

THE PRESENT GENERAL UNREST. • .OPIUM QUESTION'. (FtIOXI . OUR' SPECIAL CORRKSroXDENT.) ..'Hong-Kong,' September 3. Thoro are'many;disturbing features in tho Far East at tliq-present moment, but the greatest is-. the ; general financial depression which hang's heavily.over each and every part, of it from Siberia down to the Annam Peninsula. With it is associated a common unrest —in the relations "of tho Asiatics to the Europeans, and in the internal relations of the people' of -the East. Commencing at Siberia, there is the trouble in Korea. Through tho imprisonment of the editor, of tho Korean "Daily News," tho Japaneso have .got rid of one of their greatest critics, and have practically bottled up his newspaper. They are now giving their undis- - traded - attention' to their military quelling of the" so-called "insurgent trouble," which, being' paraphrased,' implies that by means of the two army corps they now have in the Hermit Kingdom, plus gendarmerie, and plus police, and a few more unofficial—and, therelore,. unspecified—units, they aro busy with sword and fire in the'government of Korea's patriots. Houso-Burning in Korea. Until quite recently' it was denied most strenuously that any. house-burning had been perpetrated by tho Japanese in Korea, but a" few Bhort weeks ago it was ingeniously admitted by .the sole Japanese subsidised newspaper that during this year only 5000 houses Jiad boon raised to the ground by the' torch. What'became of their inhabitants is still to be'learnt The medium of official news calmly gives a daily list of Korean insurgents and arms captured by Japanese punitive- bands, something after this -style:—"So many soldiers setting out from such and such a place met a body of Korean insurgents, killing "a" certain number and capturing so many weapons." .There is never any news as to Japanese losses. In yet unsubdued Formosa, to which beautiful island twelve years of possession has riot yet enabled the Japanese to apply their highest conception of a whitebrown, civilisation, they liave been busily employed'ill tightening the cordon of blockhouses, wire entanglements, and pickets. After the method of Eord Kitchcner'in South Africa they have-drawji round the aborigi-' iials some ni.ne hundred odd miles of these restrictions, .and,now they have the gallant head hunters into a reservation'of about two 'hundred square miles; The middle of next year will probably see-the last of the.Formosan aboriginals under the influence of .Japan's benign, colonial rule: . The fact tjiiit the War Cabinet of 1905, with Marqiiis.'Katsura at its head, and that Very Clover/ bookworm, Count Komnra, 'brought back.: from his ambassadorial duties cin London to 'the Foreign portfolio, and much . the same personnel all tho way through, in- ■ i eluding Terauchi, the Minister for War, is in office again, does not particularly add to one's belief in the . peaceful. stability, of the Far East. The "captriro of'the Japanese sealer Miye Maru-in Russian waters, and the condemnation to death of six (Homo cables now ''have eight)-. of. .her 1 crew for . mutiny whilst under arrest, are things not calculated to add greatly to.the international,feelings -which -Russia; hearstowards Japan.and ' vice yersn. v ; "'" - : ','

Indo-China, arc! Sumatra. To turn elsewhere, revolution is still progressing .in the Southern pro/inco of China. The rebellion of Yunnan,, -though in the Celestial-Kingdom considercr. officially 3uashedj ; :continues,' in'_the, persons of the insurgent*'Chinese v fugitives; to ! give the Fronch military authorities along tho Yun-nan-TonL'iii frontier' rhore concern than it) does- the- Central, Government at Pekin,. or .the. r Vice-Regal. Government . of the .Kivang' Provinces, /Jlhprpughjy wel: employed with the sedition and anarchy now rampant TiKJho midst of her Indo-Chinox Annamite possessions, and with Chinese aggression from either Imperial regulars in disguise or fugitive revolutionists _ without- disguise—sho is'not sure which—Franco has been scratching her colonial head. She has fmil'y: demanded heavy reinforcements for the European units of her colonial garrisons. Tho Republic is dispatching in very short order some 10,000 troops'who, .if they turn out at all useful, should , put a -stop to-what at present,, is very near akia 'tp.;ppen revolt. • ' Sumatra, upon .whose woil ■ coast tho Malays have, been giving the Dutch a series of revolutionary ; sensations, is now reported •quiet. In Aehceri, into whose interior the men of Holland have been tryinp hard to have .an"; administrative lodk, sinco thoy "colonised" it nearly thirty years ago, Major Christoffol is said .to have subdued the natives. The 'Goverrime.it is now busy, in supplying the conquered oner with State schools and " text- books; .of the dulcet Dutch language; : Ho^-long ; ; 'it -will bo "beforo - thoAchinese bolt back to their, fever-stricken morasses and jungles, taking with them their Dutch test' books—and' the-heads of their . preceptors—is a matter for .conjecture to those who have a more intimate-knowledgo of tho Malays than have the men from Holland. Altogether, the peace outlook of tho Far East has not; been for some tihio past a very happy one. and for this tho success . of Japan in her l.atc;;iyar; with Russia is to some 'considerable extent responsible. Verily the East is going through trying turmoils. Clilna's Proposed Allianoo. . China, tho most, disturbed country in tho Far East, is at present wrestling with a new question—the suggested alliance with America. To do the Chinese justice, it must bo admitted that tho question is at tho present .timo ■'a Tory real with them. No man who knows his China can disguise tho fact that the people of that great empire at present fear ; the designs of: Japan. They see the Mikado's Government spending money •on'fleets, and : soldiers, and aro wondering .whero tho cash to pay the bills is to come from. Japan's financial position is knoivn to the world—it is specially well known to the Chinese who aro the commercial men of tho Far East. Whether they aro right or wrong, the Chinese belitvo that Japan has the intention of taking, advantage .of her ' present ■ offensive strength and . making war on • China, and exacting a big indemnity in order to recoup her, colters. For that"" reason tho thinking Chineso welcome the suggested, alliance, and only two days ago the' Grand Council suggested that the envoy who is to visit America" to.thank tho United States for the reduction of the Boxer ilidpmnity, should bo given the rank of Viceroy- of the thrco Eastern provinces, in order that he might have authority to decide matters in' connection with Manchuria. It has further been asked that he should be allowed to enter into negotiations for a big loan for- China from America, to ..1)0 used, for purposes of administration. Just .'alt pr'es'ent-tho-feeling between tho two countries is very cordial, and thero is in tho present boycott of 'Japan-." something" equally real, . Anglo-Japanese' Example. Thinking Chinese say that the AngloJapancso_ Agreement'has proved that such an alliance is • possible. They added that whilo England-was always frank with Japan,,the Chineso : never knew just what sho or the other Powers meant in regard to -China. Without-tho defence of a big army, and with tho weakness of having to protect her rich" resources, tho empire was in a parlous state, a stato'sho had been unable to extract herself from, and from which she could not bo removed unloss she had tho aid of a strong and friendly Powor. And the Chinese nuke no secret of tho fact that-they fear tJio Japan of to-day. . With'the little friction between Japan and America they think they seo tho grounds- of .common -sympathy. China's call to a foreign Power to .help her to become something better than sho is, or was is nothing new. In 1839 tho two men who at present represent tho Chinese of Hong-Kong in the Legislative' Council—Hon." Dr.'Ho Kai aind Hon. Mr.. Wie Yuk—sent a petition to Lord Charles' Herosford asking him to persuade Great Britain to' help the Chinese people to como out of' the darkness that they tfero in. The petition. w,as unproductive' 6f i'aiiything, and to-day -the-.Chinese are hoping that they will find in'the Americans somebody more'helpful. Though America's practice has been'-.to avoid'such alliances, .it.'is thought that now she is, through tho : con.

quest •of Manila, a Far Eastern power, tho people of tho United Statos will look with favour on tho alliance. Making a Chinese Army.: The Emperor of China, who'seems anxious that the nation sha.ll have an army, recently instructed tho Viceroy of Kwangtung to raise two brigades of .soldiers, and have them drilled and trained on' European principles. The Viceroy could not view the pro--posal with favour, sinco he saw no means of raising the needed funds. An official named Shun has come forward with a suggestion, which is that overy person in tho province should pay a small tax. The scheme nasi not-met with the Viceroy's approval. In fact he so far forgot his dignity as to throw tho papers that set out the scheme at the head of the enorgetic official. Shun is reported to be very despondent, and he argues that where thore is bettor protection the people arc willing to pay for it, because their lives n.re more safe and their property is given better security. Opium in China. • Opium is causing the Chinese a deal of trouble, one way and another. While they, are protesting that they are doing their best to eradicate the evil from tho Empire, it is a certain fact that the consumption of the drug is 011 the increase in China. A few days ago the British Minister at Peking sent a dispatch to the Chinese Government, which pioved a regular bomb-shell. Ho complained that, according to tho reports of the British Consuls in the treaty ports, tho consumption of opium had recently increased, instead of decreased. This lie attributed to the loose-, ness with which the authorities .enforced tho, opium regulations. - Hp added that if China would not,_ or could not, abolish the opium trade within ten years the Chinese Government would be asked to pay the Indian Government an indemnity for the losses sustained in reducing the amount of opium exported into China, and that the relations be-, tween tile two natioijs. would thus_bc impaired. The disnateh was sitbfequentlv presented to the Throne bv the Grand Council for perusal. After she ha.d'read it,.the-Em-' press Dnwager at once sent for' the Imperial 'Commissioners for Onium Prohibit tion. The latter were severely reprimanded and ordered to explain themselves. After the audience the commissioners held a meeting with the members of tho Grand Council, and it was decided that tho cultivation of poppy in would bo prohibited within the next year.-