BRITAIN AND CHINA.

Grey River Argus, 13 January 1927, Page 5

BRITAIN AND CHINA.

History of Their Relations. (By John Mcllwain, Denniston). When all eyes are turned on Chin: ■when) politicians and financiers a: weighing up their chances of gain, pre tige and profit from the crisis whit appears inevitable, when the capitf ist press will again enter the aren and distort the truth to make a. tn for fools to work, teach hate, and

spill oceans of ink on the “yellow peril.”—it may be useless for me to warn the workers to let not their passion and hatreel of things foreign outweigh lheir better judgment and to remember that we, the British people, have not always been in Hie right, when entereel the lists. About the time when Now Zealand became a colony (1839) Great Britain was engaged in its first opium war. The Chinese Gov- < rnment, wise in its generation, had passed Jaws to stop the importation ol this deadly drug, which was ruining China’s people, physically and morally, and called on the Britsh merchants to end this demoralising trade. Those oi us who have' been cradled in the beiicl of British fair play and justice would imagine that a law passeel by a socalled heathen government for the sav ing of its people, would have met with every encouragement front British trailers and British Government alike, but alas tor the soul of big business, money was to be made in the opium traffic, and law or no law, and in defiance ol all Chinese edicts to the contrary, the British merchants persisted in bringing the poppy from India. As a result oi this violation of China’s laws, the traders were arrested, and to the everlasting shame of Britain, war was declared on China, and as an earnest of what was to follow, British gunboats smash ed up some Chinese junks on the Can ton River. In June 1850 the island ot Chusan on the East Coast was taken Jn January 1841 the Bogue forts fell into our hands, and next the island oi Hong Kong. This island with a territory of thirty square miles, we retained and at the Peace of Nanking, it was formally ceded to us, along with k*our millions for our war expenses. Jr. addition, we demanded that five more ports would be opened to the trade of foreign nations. Thus, Chinese exclusiveness had received its f?>t blow and the merchant princes continued to pile up huge fortunes at Hie expense of the mental and physical degeneration of the Chinese people. But what of the soldier and sailor? AV hat ol Tommy and Jack? What was their ic ward? ” they received in three davs the same reward that they recei»» in all wars where evei fought—the honour of being blown mt< bundles of bloody rags, or if the) . should survive the war, the honour o working for starvation wages, if the; were lucky enough to find employ ment! This by no means ended th< peaceful penetration (?) of China b; Great Britain. In 1856 China agai: • made an attempt to prohibit the in; portation of opium. She arrested th crew of a small native ship, flying th British flag, and when called on, rc fused to apologise to the British Mir ’ ister at Hong Kong. In reply to thi refusal. Admiral Seymour fired on an - sunk some Chinese ships in Canto ■ river. British subjects were then r< r fused admittance to the town of Car ton. This resulted in a general engage ‘ ment in fcvhich French troops a’ssiste the British to storm and sack th town The Chinese surrendered, and <i the treaty of Tien-tsin, they were con polled to (1) Open five more ports to commerce including Formosa and s . Hainan. (2) To have British subjects ad- , rnitted to any part of China. d (3) To pay a sum of money as war >. indemnity. I (4) Christianity was to be toleiI ated. ! This treaty must have made the go laugh. To think that the enlighleiti I British nation forced these people, ■ the point of the bayonet, to con.nv u-ing that soul-destroying drug, op" ' :ud then demanded that Christumit m ist be tolerated—and Christian mi simaries would no doubt teach the rc ltlu evils Of opium. What a picture th •G presents to us. where God is spell ch ks,D. and Christianity is taught by ll " Inin, -pounder gun! Can we wonder !l ’| (,- lia ’_, attitude towards ns to-da a P sn.l her desire to be free from the: tu sht calls “foreign devils?”