THE SITUATION IN CHINA.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CV, Issue 12426, 15 February 1901, Page 4

THE SITUATION IN CHINA.

The protests of the British residents in the Far East have apparently not been without result, and the Foreign Office has at last shown an approach to firmness in its dealings with China. The King’s subjects in Shanghai and Hongkong, it will be Remembered, urged Ms Majesty not to receive any envoy' from China until reparation hadi been made for the terrible outrages of the past year. Sir E. M. Satow’s communication to the Chinese Government is not couched in such sweeping terms, but it will help Li Hung Chang and his colleagues to realise that they are dealing with a Power that will not always endure insult. In selecting an obscure official to carry the Celestial congratulations' to 1 King Edward, Kwang-hsu’s responsible—or irresponsible— Ministers, no doubt intended to show their contempt for the “ foreign devils,” but they must also have encountered considerable difficulty in finding a prince of the rbyai blood willing to face a Western audience. Of the officials competent to undertake so important a mission many are, in disgrace because of their attitude toward the Allies, and the others were so deeply involved 1 in the Boxer trouble that they dare not show their faces in Pekin. Happily for China’, her system of Government ip mainly provincial, and the flight of the Court to Singan did not involve a general disorganisation of the administration of the Empire. But the only authorities who can act on behalf of the whole nation are inaccessible to foreigners, and the condition of listlessness which has obtained so long in the relations of the Powers with the Central Government seems likely to continue. It is tine that tire Emperor’s advisers have accepted the terms of the famous Joint Note. There was no other course open to them, for the Note was declared to be irrevocable. ’But they have made no move towards carrying out its conditions, nor does it seem practicable tp put them‘into execution. by force. The^Allies are undeniably anxious to get away from Pekin, and to see the end of their expensive and unsatisfactory “mission.” Vague references have been made from l ime to time in the cable- ■ grams to the possibility of an expedition to Si-ngan, but it is obvious that if the Allies did undertake so huge a task the DowagerEmpress and her follower!? would simply retire still deeper into the heart of the Empire, and both men and millions would be wasted’. The natural policy for the Chinaman to adopt now is one of absolute'inaction, leaving it' to the foreigners to make the move; and the foreigners, of course, cannot afford., to maintain a great army in Pekin indefinitely. If the situation gives no indication of changing, two courses will be open to tire Powers. They may retire from China altogether, allowing the Chinese to return to Pekin, if they so desire, and contenting themselves with the loot of the capital; or they may fall back upon the spheres of influence policy, each seizing some tract • of territory on the sea-coast as compensation for their losses. By the former alternative they would gain absolutely nothing, * and the last state of China would bo worse than the first; the latter would be directly opposed to all the solemn undertakings made at the commencement of' the war, and would lead inevitably to international friction. The ultimate end towards which the Powers are working is, practically, a return to the condition's existing before the Boxer outbreak, the re-establishment, that is, of a Government sufficiently strong to resistforeign aggression, and to re-open China to trade. But they must have some guarantee that the Boxer outbreak will not be repeated in some other form, and it is to obtain that guarantee that they are remaining now in Pekin. Wo confess that the situation is deplorably unsatisfactory, and that there is not one encouraging feature. Possibly Lard Lansdowne, with his secret information rind his special knowledge, may hold other views; but it is apparently no- pari of the duty of the British Foreign Office to enlighten the nation on points of public interest.