Wairarapa Daily Times. [ESTABLISHED 44 YEARS.] SATURDAY, MAY 3, 1919. CHINA'S APPEAL.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 45, Issue 13824, 3 May 1919, Page 4

Wairarapa Daily Times. [ESTABLISHED 44 YEARS.] SATURDAY, MAY 3, 1919. CHINA'S APPEAL.

China has placed a number of very important claims before the Peace Conference. The abolition of extra-territorial-ity, remission of the balance of the Boxer indemnity, and the disappearance of foreign "spheres of influence" and exclusive rights and concessions, are dosired; and in return China is willing to throw open tho entire country to foreign industrial and commercial enterprise. In other words, the appeal means that the "open door" policy shall be carried to its full extent, and instead of parcelling the country out into reserves where none but certain nationals may engage in undertakings aimed at developing China's resources, foreigners with money to invest and expert knowledge to apply will be at liberty to establish themselves at any place which suits their purpose. When this desirable state of affairs comes about it will be no longer possible for a foreign diplomat iv Peking to protest angrily to the Chinese authorities against a threatened "invasion" of the sphere of influence allocated to his own particular nationals; and the political and diplomatic atmosphere of Peking will be considerably clearer and cleaner in consequence. But before this bloodless revolution can take place ; China must get Britain, France and Japan to return the Chinese territory they now control, and she expresses her willingness that these places shall be converted into free ports open to the commerce of the world. The leased territories to which reference is made by China were part of a series of rapid moves by foreign Powers to maintain what was called the "balance of power" in the Far East. On March 6th, 1898, Germany obtained a lease of Kiao-chau for 99 years; on March 27th Porth Arthur and Talien-wan were leased to Russia for twenty-five years; on May 27th Kwcngchow-wan was leased to France for 99 years, and on July Ist Wei-hai-wei was leased to Great Britain. The story of tho manner in which these "concessions" were obtained from China is of considerable interest. In 1896 anil ""the following year German gunboats paid casual visits to Kiao-chau and took soundings and qbservationß of various sorts with a view to ascertaining quietly whether the port was suitable for the purposjes of a naval station. The result of this secret survey

was satisfactory to the German authorities, and it only remained to find ways and. means of securing control of the place. In 1897 two German missionaries were murdered by Chinese in Shantung. They were members of a Catholic society which had been expelled from Germany some years before, but this did not prevent the German Government taking a very strong attitude. Ten days later a warship appeared at Kiao-chau and took possession of the place which had already been selected as a site for a German naval station. Tho Chinese Government appealed to the French and Russian Ministers in Peking for assistance, but got none, nor even sympathy; and in the following March the murder of the German missionaries was avenged, and Germany's land-grab confirmed, by a lease of territory for ninety-nine years. This move was regarded with deep suspicion by Russia, and so a lease of Port Arthur was obtained "for the protection of the Russian fleet and to enable it to havo a. secure base on the north coast, of China." The spread of Russian influence towards Peking was regarded by Great Britain with apprehension, and so China was persuaded to grant a leas® of Wei-hai-wei to Britain in order to provide a suitable naval harbour in north China and for the better protection of British commerce in the neighbouring seas. Wei-hai-wei stands at the head of the Shantung peninsula, and wuthiu easy striking distance of Port Arthur and Kiao-chau, and it was stipulated that the lease of Wei-hai-wei to Britain should last for "so long a period as Port Arthur . shall remain in the possession of Russia.'' The latter harbour has out been in Russia's possession 6hiee"1905., Ail these various acquisitions of nayal stations in the Far East were , regarded with anxiety by France, who secured a lease of a bay on the south coast cf China, opposite the island of Hainan. Italy then came along with a demand, but by this time, the Chinese Government was getting somewhat tired of granting leases of its territory, and refused to make any more concessions. Such in brief is the story of the scramble for territory to maintain the "balance of power" between foreign Powers interested in the Far East, and it is not astonishing that China desires these portions of her territory returned to her now that there is no longer any excuse for holding them to maintain the "balance of power."