THE FRANCO-CHINESE SITUATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 1674, 22 December 1883, Page 27

THE FRANCO-CHINESE SITUATION.

The British Cabinet has issued explicit instructions to all departments 'that in the event of a war the British fleet in Chinese waters will be reinforced, an£ .it is said any .attempt by France to blockade ports where British interests exist will be resisted. . A dispatch from Paris of November 5 says : *' The day after the meeting of the Chamber of Deputies, it is said, orders were sent to Admiral Combet to' push operations in Tonquin, in order to make the Chinese Governx mint show the course it intended to pursue, so •. Jthat France could take definite action." JF. A dispatch from London -to the New York Press pf November 19 says : " The news from France and China is becoming alarming. Heretofore it had been considered that the Tonquin, dispute, was a game of 'bluff' on both sides, and few entertained any fear that a general war between France and China would ever occur. It is now believed war is certain. P-iriejuling, according to advices from Hongkong, is commissioned to raise 20,000 Voluntesra in Hoo Poo, of which Hankow is one of the capitals, the district around which has a population of half-a-million of men. Recruiting stations are being opened throughout all fche northern districts of the Empire, where the war fever is high. Many politicians affect tp discredit these' dispatches from Ghina. They argue that the dispatches indicate that China seems to be gathering an array large enough to overrun Europe, which they pronounce ridiculous. Many journals iv England discuss the situation as one of the utmost gravity, and are accusing the Government of having by a process of starvation m weakened the British navy that if -war between France and China breaks out England will be actually unable to find either the ships or marines necessaiy to properly reinforce the British squadron in Chinese waters." A dispatch from Hongkong, received in London on November 24, says 3000 Chinese attacked Haiphong on November 17, and the laated till 4 in the • afternoon, \vhen the' Chinese retreated. The French were supported by a gunboat, the hull of winch' wae pierced in several places,, and eight of the crew wounded. -Chinese reinforcements •continae to amve'-at Canton, and war' with 'France jg considered inevitable. News from the

north of China is that a secret treaty exists between the Chinese and the Black Flags.

The New York World editorially says : " There can be no doubt that the outbreak of warm China would beagreatcalamity. It would affect not France and China alone, but all the great trading nations, the United States included. Our trade in Chinese waters is second in importance to that of Great Britain, and greatly in excess of that of France. The returns of 1881 and 1882 show that the annual import and export trade of China amounts to very nearly 500,000,000d01. Of this the percentage of Great Britain, including Hongkong, is about 60, not far short of three-fourths of the whole ; the percentage of the United States is 20. The claims of France are manifestly unjuht. Her action is high-handed and offensive. Her interest in Chinese waters does not justify the attitude she has assumed. China, not France, has the sympathy of all nations."