CHINESE AFFAIRS.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4513, 14 November 1901, Page 5

CHINESE AFFAIRS.

THE WAR INDEMNITY". (Received November 13, 11 p.m.i SHANGHAI, November 13The Y’ang-tzo Viceroys complain that their innocent province is compelled to piovide half the interest on the huge Boxer indemnity loan. ACTIVITY IN THE ARSENALS. SHANGHAI, November 13. Thousands of workmen are employed in the chief Chine.-o arsenals, feverishly manufacturing arms and ammunition. THE HEIR TO THE THRONE. (Per R.M.S. Sonoma, at Auckland.) SAN FRANCISCO, October 24. A despatch from Pekin says the new heir to the Chinese throne will oo appointed when the Dowagcr-Empryss meets Prince Ching and several of the Viceroys at Kai-fong-fu, the capital of lHe province of Honan, where there is to he a general discussion of the affairs of tho Empire. This news is believed to lie authentic, as it was received from Chinese officials. The present heir, Pu-Chun, hag proved to bo dissipated and uncontrollable. Moreover, _ his father's status as a banished prince makes his succession contrary to Chinese traditions. Tho candidate of the Empress is said to be Pevtze, nephew of Prince Tuan. Ho is intellectually weak, and participated in Die Boxer aggression, personally loading the. attack on tho French Cathedral. Tho reform faction disapproves of tho selection, and suggests that the Powers should oppose it, if the Empress attempts to carry it out. Tho present heir to the throne is Pu-Chun. son of Prince Tuan. Ho was born in 1884. About tho middle of this year Prince Tuan was said xo be fomenting insurrection in Western Mongolia. Ho was last reported to be at Uhrmski, in Turkestan, whither he had been banished as a result ot the part he took in tho Boxer uprising.

A despatch from Pekin, dated October 9th, says Prince Ching hag written to Ministers of the Powers requesting tho withdrawal from Pekin of tho foreign business establishments- He says Pekin is not a treaty port, and foreign business houses have been illegally o=. tablishod. Tho controversy regarding the payment of octroi tax by foreign merchants appears to have precipitated tho issue. Tho foreign business community in Pekin, though small, is important. Its presence is essential to the comfort and convenience of tho Legations- Foreign houses began to bo located in Pekin in the eighties with the tacit consent of the Chinese. The Hongkong, l Shanghai and Russo-Chmeso banks established branches. There is a hotel, and a few merchants have a footing. Yokohama hanks intend to establish branches, and there are manyforeign shops, German predominating, which have trade with the Chinese. When the demands to bo included in tho protocol were framed, Mr Conger, tho American Minister, proposed to include tho opening of Pekin to foreign trade- The suggestion was favoured by the majority of the Ministers, but so strongly opposed by ,the Russian Minister that the matter was dropped, because of the necessity for unanimity. It i s expected the affair will now ho comnromised by China consenting to remit able merchants remaining, and merchants and others being compelled by their respective Governments to pay duties-