THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1906.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXVIII, Issue 7959, 9 February 1906, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1906.

Items in recent cable news seem to suggest that China is not really in decay, ps we have imagined for many years past; in fact, .ever since Great Britain made her first acquaintance with China, the latter country baa been regarded by tha people of the former as a good field for exploitation, but not to be considered as a power of any consequence. Had a similar opinion of Japan been formed, say, 100 years ago, and there is no reason why it should not have been (and it probably was, though for various reasons, it did not become prominent), well ■—to-day it Would have been ex-

ploded—quitel A rather more than interesting question at the present time is whether China is not capable of becoming quite as active and successful in the way of developing upou modern lines as the world - astounding Japanese. M. Alexis Krauss has kindly written a most interesting book—"China in Decay"—and even if the writer has forgottea to supply any adequate material to justify the title to bis work, we may forgive hirn, for the booK is extremely interesting, if is only does no more than give one some idea as to the difference of the methods which Brinish and Kussian diplomatists have adopted in their negotiations with the rulers of the "Flowery Land"—the latter seem always to have respected the possibility of the "decay" in China developing into a new, strong and portentous growth. The renewal of the Chinese boycott of American goods, and the dismissal of a number of Americans holding high positions in the Chinese service, and the anti-foreign agitation are significant indications of the new spirit which is manifesting itself in China. *****

Foreign observers in . that country, men possessing not only an intimate acquaintance with the language, but a deep knowledge of the Chinese character, have noted ever since the Russo-Japanese war a decided change of public opinion and of Imperial policy. A new muvement has sprung up, and is rapidly gaining ground, the object of which is embodied in the phrase, "China for the Chinee." The Shanghai correspondent of the London Times, returning to bis post recently after an absence from China of seven months, was greatly struok ;vitfa the remarkable change which had come over all classes. On every side he found evidence of a spirit of unrest inclined to assert the supremacy of China's sovereign rights, and to resent all foreign privileges and influence. He found that public meetings were t being held in support of this policy and that mischievous anti-foreign literature was being circulated with the tacit consent of officials. This change he attributes to several causes,, among them the assumption of the Pekiu Government that the Anglo-Japanese alliance guarantees the integrity of China, come what may, the attitude of America regarding the boycott of her goods which, being conciliatory, was naturally misoonstrued by the Asiatic mind as a sign of weakness, and the influence throughout the provinces of large numbers of halfeducated students, who have returned from Tokio, imbued with the desire to see China emulate the example of Japan. *** * * .

• Even the central Govern meat at Fekin, which has remained conservative and exclusive so long, is beginning to show signs of breaking away from its traditional policy, and ooming under tbe spell of the new spirit which is permeating the oountry. The Chinese Army is being remodelled on modern methods, and already has made considerable progress in organisation, equipment and efficiency, so much so that at the manoeuvres held at Ho-oben-fu some months ago the foreign officers who expected to see a military paiade half-comic, halfpathetic, returned "declaring that they had seen a modern army, and averring they had assisted at a display momentous and epoch-marking in the history of the Far East." It is not possible to foreoast what the end of this re-awakening of China will be, or what great changes may result from the new movement which has only just begun. It seems probable, however, that in the not remote future we shall see the rise of another strong Power in the Far East, even more formidable than Japan. Once China becomes thoroughly saturated with the spirit of tne age, it is by no means unlikely that we shall witness a transformation that will profoundly affect the relations of the East and the West. '