THE CRISIS IN CHINA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2437, 28 November 1900, Page 23

THE CRISIS IN CHINA.

ALLEGED SECRET ORDERS BY THE DOWAGER.

ORDEES TO PREPARE FOR WAS,

» gekm'ans defeat. the „.; . '.boxers/..

THE EKENCH FLEET.

.RUSSIA CHANGES HER MIND.

THE -POWERS IN ACCOKD.

* _ HONGKONG, November 19. Anti-Christian riots have commenced at Kwang-su. The "non-Christians are wearing badges, and all others are in danger- of death. ,*.-•• ' . Novembef~2o. - The Emperor, under date the 14th inst., in reply to the Emperor of Germany, j promises to severely punish the authorities J who compromised Baron Ketteler's murder, j He will give effect to this assurance on his return to Peking, which will take place^ when the negotiations have attained the desired result. He will strictly enjoin the provincial authorities to protect missionaries. . . The Yang-tse Viceroys have stopped shipments of tribute and rice to Si-ngan-fu, fearing the Allies will intercept them. The Allies ha\e captured two passes leading from Chih-li into Shansi. November 21. The Pei-ho River, to the north of Tnngchau, is freezing. ' November 22. The Dowager's warlike order is attributed to Tung-fuh-siang. Owing to the number of indignant protests lodged against the appointment of Cheng, a netorieus anti-foreigner, he hasi. been made Salt Commissioner instead of Taoti of Shanghai, the appointment to which he was assigned in July last. Admiral Seymour and Mr P. L. Warren, British consul at Hankow, have left Shangihai on a visit to the Yang-tse ports. ; Germany is establishing - a consulate at Nankin. November 24. * The Germans, on the 20th, near Kalgan, -^filled 50 Boxers, and' captured eight guns. Another detachment drove* the Chinese in "the direction of Shansi. . The French fleet on the- China .station has been divided, and a section is watching the Yang-tse. - ■ November. 26. Russia has postponed the withdrawal' of troops from Manchuria, and rescinded the transfer of the Tientsin railway. Tungfuh Siang ' threatens to usurp the throne. The Emperor chiefly relies on General Ma, who has a blood feud with Tungfuh Siang. LONDON, November 19. The' Daily Mail states that inquiries which have been made at Hongkong regarding" the accommodation there for vessels suggest that it is the intention to send a British squadron to the Far East. November 20. • Dr Morrison reports that Li Hung N Chang has declared that the edict of the Emperor, depriving Prince Tuan and Prince Ching of their rank and offices, imprisoning men for life at Mukden (the ancestral home of the Prince), and degrading the others, contains the utmost punishment which the Court are able to inflict upon the ringleaders of the outrages upon the Europeans. Li" Hung Chang further declares that he and Prince Ching are threatened with punishment, by the Emperor if they do not'induce the Allies to accept the compromise. - Dr Morrison. states that the edict is ridi"culed, and that it has served to strengthen ■the determination of the Ministers to demand the death of the ringleaders. The name of General Tung Fuh Siang was omitted from the Imperial edict , owing to his military power. November 21. . The Morning Post states that the Allies .have summoned Liv Kunyi to define his relations to the court and his attitude regarding forwarding supplies to Singan-fu. The' Daily Telegraph's Shanghai correspondent says credible reports are to hand that the Dowager Empress has secretly or.dered the Viceroys and Governors to prepare for immediate war against the Allies. The Washington correspondent of The Times states that the politicians there seek . to imply that the Powers are asking an impossible indemnity from China in order to make the partition of the country inevitable. November 22. TBe Times' Shanghai correspondent states , that Liv Kun-yi declares that he sent only ■ strictly necessary supplies to Si-ngan-fu. • He gives assurances of the stability of the ' Viceroy's neutrality. Adyices from Peking report that the Conference of Ministers is at a standstill, pend- \ ing a reply to the references on the various points that have 'been sent to the Powers. PARIS, November 25. . . The French "troops- accuse the Sikhs of '. ransacking the Ming Tombs at Siling. BERLIN, November 20. Count yon Bulow continued the debate S& the Reichstag on the points of settle-

ment proposed in the Chinese difficulty cabled on the 13th. He agreed 'with' the proposals, and also that China should negotiate such changes in treaties of trade and navigation as the Governments deem advisable. Count yon Bulow is hopeful of good results. He emphasised the friendly relations existing with Britain and Russia. Germany was safeguarding her own position in Europe and elsewhere, and not interfering with others. She was not acting as a lightning conductor to the other Powers. Herr Bebel attacked the Kaiser's no-quarter speech. He referred to- the German cruelties, amidst^ interruptions. An inquiry was offered, but Herr Bebel declined to produce the letters on which his accusation of .cruelty was based. The debate was adjourned. c- November 20. Count yon Bulow made a powerful speech in asking for a Bill of Indemnity to cover j the unsanctioned expenditure on account of ] the China expedition, and for a supplementary credit. He denounced the equivocation and inaction of the Tsung-li-Yamen, and stated that on the members of that body rested the responsibility for the spread of the Boxers and the latter's' general assault on Europeans and civilisation. The Allies were acting in self-defence. Germany was seeking no conquest, but shi? desired to j maintain the influence accruing to her from i the 'present movements amd a fair share of ! what was to be won from China without j over-reaching anyone or without permitting anyone to over-reach her. Germany preferred that China should remain unpartitioned, well ordered, and solvent. Germany had no need to acquire territory, as it would overstrain her resouices. Nor had she any reason to be confined to a given territory, inasmuch as German trade was now ranking second in amount in China ; it was widespread, and long anterior to the acquisition of Kiaochau. Germany would not allow any infringement of her rights, but would continue in peaceful competition with other nations on the 'basis of " live and let live." That was the object of the Anglo-German agreement, 'to whose principles all the other nations had straightforwardly agreed. November 21. , Count yon Bulow, speaking in the Reichstag, assumed the moral responsibility for the Kaiser's speeches. He declared that the speech at Bremerhaven was an extemporary one, and delivered under the impression and belief that all the Exiropeans at Peking had been massacred. The Kaiser on that occasion spoke as a soldier, and not a,-s a diplomat. Herr Bebel, referring to the cruelties of the German soldiers in China, satirised the Berlin newspapers for their moral indignation against. the alleged English atrocities in South Africa. The Prussian Minister of War, in defending the Kaiser, said that what the troops were now doing in, China was merely in retaliation for what the Huns 'did when they invaded Europe. November 26. Count yon Bul&w, addressing the Reichstag, said the Powers were unanimous on every detail as regards the demands made on China. Eleven' points had been formulated by Ministers, and negotiations were r u a . BRUS - SELS^ November 21. King Leopold has rectified the Kiou Central African boundary in favour of Germany in return for German support in obtaining for Belgrum a strip of territory on the left bank of the Pei-ho below Tientsin. > WASHINGTON, November 22. -Mr Conger has 'been instructed to resist the clause in the proposed treaty of peace relating to the separate revision of treaties, because such revision foreshadows special concessions to those who have been foremost in the intriguing, and will also tend to produce further complications. • '-'HANDS OFF, GENTLEMEN I -" Writing in the October " Ceniury " of " Chinese Traits and Western Blunders," Bishop Potter warns the nations against any attempt to partition the Chinese Empire. May a large wisdom and a temper other than that of mere revenge deal with the Chinese question as the essential equities involved in its demand. We are told that the cle&tiny of China is to be partitioned up among the great Powers. There could not be a more stupid or shameless policy. A nation, like a man, has a right to be until she has demonstrated unmistakably her incompetence to administer her own affairs with equal justice to all. It cannot be maintained that China has so far descended the path of national decay and disintegration. She is stained with a long record of dishonoured and discredited officials, corrupt, mercenary, and unscrupulous. Alas! is the record of other people unstained in this regard? She has been guilty of the gravest crimes against international rights and comities. Let her be punished for them as she deserves. But let not the mad acts of ignorant and inflamed revolutionists be made the pretext for pulling down a venerable and historic civilisation, whose younger and worthier sons are just now turning toward the light. Hands off, gentlemen, kings, emperors, and presidents, until a people, stirred at length by the vision of nobler ideals, shall show ue what they can do for _their own regeneration! _ Si-ngan-fu, or Hrd-an-fu, the city of Shensi, where the Emepror and Dowager Empress now are,- has at different times played a conspicuous part in the long history of China. Next to Peking, it is the most important city in the Empire, and for more than 1000 years was the Imperial capital B.C. 255, a.d. 905). It was there that "the celebrated Do.wager Empress Wu.(a.d. 625-705) wielded her despotic power, and, like a true prototype of the present. Dowager Empress, deposed the second successor of her deceased husband and usurped the throne. Her his- I tory is curious. On the death of her Imperial consort (649) she retired into a Buddhist nunnery, from which retreat &he was recalled by the reigning Empress, who wished to enlist her services to undermine the in- ! fluenoe of an Imperial coricubine, who had

gained a too complete control over the affections of the Emperor. This the ex-nun succeeded in doing, and then turned her attention to ousting the Empres3 from her Imperial position. By murdering her own little girl, and accusing the Empress of the deed, she persuaded the Emperor to dispose his consort, and subsequently inducer him to raise her to the throne in the "lace of her rival. This tragedy was brought to a fitting conclusion byline murder of the further deposed Empress. Af£er this event the usurper exercised complete control over political affnirs, and on the death of the Emperor (684) set aside his successor, and usurped the throne for some 20 years. In 690 she impiously adopted . the title of Sheng-shen iiwangti, " God Almighty," and 15 years later died at a very old age, and in the odour of Imperial sanctity. Though traces of the palaces which sheltered this masterful lady and her successors at Si-ngan-fu are still to be found, the main buildings have mouldered into dust, and the only ancient memorial which Has survived the ravages of time is the celebrated sto.ie monument which was erected (a.d. 781) by the despised Syrian Christiana to commemorate the introduction of nestbrian Christianity into China.