THE SITUATION IN CHINA.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 9099, 18 March 1901, Page 3

THE SITUATION IN CHINA.

QUARREL ABOUT A RAILWAY SIDING. THE RUSSIANS OCCUPY IT. Electrio Telegraph— Copyright— Unit d Press Association. LONDON, March 16. The railway siding at Tientsin con- j structed by Mr Kinder is being strongly held by reinforcements of British troops. Serious trouble is imminent, unless the Russians retire. The respective guards of both nationalities are m close proximity to one another. Later news states that the Russian -forces are entrenching at the siding. The Hongkong Regiment are confronting them with fixed bayonets, and awaiting instructions. Later. — A message sent by Renter's correspondent states that the Russians occupied the railway siding which Mr Kinder, the English engineer, was constructing at Tientsin. Major-General Barrow, the British officer, hesitates to act m General Gaselee's absence. He is consulting with Sir E. Satow. The Russians consider that they are the victors m the matter. They declare that the siding interferes with the projected road through territory conceded to Russia. In the House of Commons Lord Geo. Hamilton said that the authorities on the spot at Tientsin were dealing with the Biding difficulty. British officers throughout' the operations m China had shown such excessive conciliation that, it was unnecessary to specially instruct them m the matter. Eighty Australians have volunteered for the Pekin-Shanhaikwan railway service for a half-year. Count Alexieff has re-instated Tsenghi as Governor of Mukden, with four thousand Cossacks to support him. M. d« Giers, Russian Minister m China, has vehemently declared that he. would sooner lose his right hand than consent to any more decapitations. BERLIN, March 16. In the Reichstag, Count von Bulow said that Germany was indifferent to the future of Manchuria, but thought it undesirable that China's resources should be diminished. Li Hung Chang's beautiful promises, Chinese dodges, and sophistries were insufficient to secure the evacuation of the. province of Pechili, until the peace conditions had been substantially fulfilled. BERLIN, March 17. The Reichstag has voted 123 millions of marks for expenses m China. Count Gosskr announced that General Waldersee commanded 64,000 allies, including 17,750 Germans and 12,500 British. Lord George Hamilton states that the Russians claim that their concession overrides the proprietorial rights m the railways. (The incident at Tientsin has possibly been exaggerated by the sensational press. In any case, it is' not likely to have serious results. Various similar conflicts of authority have occurred during the campaign. The Russians, it will be remembered, took complete possession of the Tientsin railway, which was Britishowned, but subsequently had to give it up. In. the case of the siding, the subject of the present quarrel, Mr Kinder may or may not hay« nad the right to ran it through the ground alleged to be part of a Russian concession, but the question' is not serious enough to bring strife between the two nations, though it may be a straw indicating the jealous feelings of the English and Russian officers m China. The incident is not more sensational than that reported on November 9th, when it was said that Count Waldersee ordered the removal of all flags at Shanhaikwan station except Russian. The British commander decided to await General Gaselee's orders before complying with the request. A Russian lieutenant, with a squad of ten men, assaulted a iSikh sentry and tore down the flag. A British subaltern demanded it should be re-hoisted. The Russians, outnumbering the Britishers, covered the party with their revolvers, forbidding them to stir. The guard communicated with General Read, who sent a force of 200 men, demanding an apology and the re-hoisting of the Union Jack, intimating that a refusal to do so would be an act of war. The Russian general . apologised and re-hoisted the flag. The Russians claimed sole rights of occupation, but their claim was disallowed.]