CHINA'S FUTURE.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1321, 27 December 1911, Page 5

CHINA'S FUTURE.

ATTITUDE 0F THE POWERS.

PEACE CONFERENCE LIKELY TO FAIL. MORE FIGHTING EXPECTED. B7 TolesraDh-PraM Aesoclation-CoDjrlnhl London, December 25. Official circles in London deny that Great Britain and Japan arc in co-opera-tion with a view to tho maintenance of monarchial government in China. Tho efforts of Britain and other Powers aro being directed to assisting China to seeuro efficient government based on popular approval. Reutor's Peking correspondent reports that tho Government fears that the conferenco at Shanghai will fail. Both sides are using tbo armistice to strengthen their military positions. It is stated that the rebels are preparing to march northr wards, via Fukow. Advices from Shanghai state that Yuan-Shih-Kai's hesitation to summon a National Convention is due to a groundless fear of an Anglo-Japanese crusade in support of the dynasty. REINFORCEMENTS FOR THE REBELS. Shanghai, December 25. Dr. Sun Yat Sen, the director of tho revolution, arrives hero to-day. Tho Peace Conference resumes tomorrow. Fivo thousand Cantonese troops have reinforced the revolutionists and fifteen thousand more are preparing to do so. JAPANESE CABINET DISCUSSION. Tokio, December 25. An extraordinary joint meeting of the Cabinet and tho Elder Statesmen considered tho situation in China. General Shjba, Japaneso Commander in Peking during the Boxer rising, has been summoned to Tokio.

DESIRES OF THE PROVINCES. The special correspondent of the "Daily Te-egraph" in Peking , , telegraphing on November 16, summarised the situation thus:— "Tho whole Empire has user! the Wuchang impasse to massacre, disarm, or surround tho eighteen Manchu provincial garrisons—the last remnants and symbols of tho -Manchu conquest, All havp used the opportunity lo drivo out the 'Viceroys who rule tho linked provinces and who are simultaneously the governors-general, commanding , military officers, aud Anarchs representing tho priestly authority of the Emperor. _ Whilst the meaning of tho word republic is understood by the trained revolutionaries, and some of tho southern provinces are willing to bo proper independent republics, the majority 'desire complete State rights similar lo those of .America—namely, a qualified autonomy. The general adoption everywhere hv (he disrupted provinces of the ancient Cnineso calendar—this year being IGO9 of Huitngti—indicates an idealistic revival of tho original Chinese nationalism blotting out 20 centuries of foreign Tartar conquests and raids. Yuaii-Shili-Kai's task is first to form a workable provisional central Government; second, to provide financially for the' interim suspension of tho foreign sinking funds and the debt service by a banking compromise; third, to settle the degree of autonomy which tho provinces require to reunite gradually with the northernmost, putting the Throno out of the controversy.' '