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THE FOREIGN OFFICE AND THE
FAR EAST.
(Daily Press, 16th July.) Singularly ineffective was Lord LANS- DOWNE's apologia for the Foreign Office in the House of Lords last week. Starting with the admission of a fact which has long been a notorious scandal, that not one official in the Foreign Office has served in the Far East, he proceeded to say that it would be difficult to introduce a different system. What the reason of the difficulty is we should like to know. Perhaps Lord LANSDOWNE stated the reason, but if so our correspondent has not telegraphed it to us. It is probable, however, that some vague generalities were thought sufficient for the House of Lords. They will not satisfy those who know how badly the present system works. If one thing is obvious, it is that under the present Foreign Office régime Great Britain has lost ground rapidly in China, and as long as this régime continues there is no prospect of improve- ment. Granting, for argument's sake, that a change would be difficult, it is none the less necessary. A reform of the War Office is a labour of the utmost difficulty, but it is nevertheless being undertaken. In compari- son with such enormous changes as are in contemplation there, the improvement of the Foreign Office cannot be held a stupendous task. We do not know where the large staff of the Foreign Office received its training, apart from the matter of office routine; but we cannot believe that it is impossible for such staff to include men who have spent at least some time in the countries with whose affairs they are called upon to deal. A commercial firm might well be ashamed of a statement such as Lord LANSDOWNE did not hesitate to make about one of the most important Government offices.
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THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
we fully admit, but there are occa. sions-there have been several in the recent history of the relations between China and the West when the diplomatist may learn much from the Press. We need. not do more than allude to the occasions when the Times correspondent at Peking has proved himself better instructed than his diplomatic fellow-residents. With practically no organised Intelligence Department of its own and a neglect of other means of inform- ation, it is little to be wondered that the British diplomatic and consular service in China is not wont to distinguish itself by displays of wisdom. It is a melancholy fact that the Government is apparently impervious to conviction on this point, and that after seeing the repeated breaks-down of the system, a responsible Cabinet Minister can calmly tell Parliament that it would be difficult to change. Difficult to change, it may be; but it is certainly ruinous not to change, and that, moreover, with all possible speed.
When Lord LANSDOWNE went on to deprecate going behind the lacks of Ambassadors and assured the House of Lords that it was the invariable custom to consult available persons possessing local knowledge, he must have felt what a sorry case he had to defend. The post of Ambas- sador does not make a man able or well- informed. If he proves that he is both, he has a claim to confidence, and to go behind his back is unnecessary and even im pertinent. But how have recent British representatives at Peking shown their right to public confidence ? What indication have they given of that pre-eminent ability which is as necessary in the post of British Ambassador to China as it is in any diplomatic post in the world? Where is the highly trained Intelligence Department, without which the proper conduct of such Ambassador's duties in Peking is impossible? Last year's events in North China are a sufficient comment on Lord LANSDOWNE'S remarks. It may be said that few of the other Powers' representatives were any better informed. But there was a time hen British prestige stood highest in China, and it is because of the long lack of a really able and well-informed diplomatist at Peking that our prestige has so declined. The advice of available persons possessing local experience, whom it is said to be the invari- able rule to consult, does not seem to have helped the Foreign Office in its upholding of our reputation in China. It is useless, indeed, for the Foreign Office's apologist to pretend that available sources of information have been used. Even such a humble means of conveying news" as the public Press might sometimes enlighten diplomatists, if it were thought correct to listen to it. Newspapers often go grievously wrong,
THE WITHDRAWAL FROM
THE NORTH.
(Daily Press, 18th July.)
"
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[July 20, 1901.
B
“sentiment of the people is, however, that "future outburst of anti-foreign feeling is 'inevitable. How long it may be delayed "will depend upon the precautionary efforts dof the Foreign Powers to prevent it.
"While th
they are vigilant and maintain a considerable force in the country there is not much to fear. But as soon as it is at all feasible another uprising will take place. The conservative party will only yield their stupid opposition to pro- gress and reform with their lives." Ou the other hand, Sir CLAUDe MacDonald, who, as British Minister before the Boxer outbreak and through the siege of the Legations, should be able to give a sound' opinion, is apparently confident that the Chinese Gov- ernment have had their lesson and taken it to heart. In response to an interviewer at San Francisco on the 13th ultimo, when passing through that city on his way home, Sir CLAUDE said he thought it was a good thing that the foreign troops were being withdrawn from China. There has," he said, "been too much friction among them, "and the example was bad for the Chinese. There is no danger of another uprising when the troops are withdrawn. There may possibly be instances of trouble, but they "will not be on a large or alarming scale. China has learned a terrible lesson, and she will never again be guilty of such another grave “mistake as that of last year." The same thing was thought after the humiliation of the Chinese Government at the end of the last war, when the Allies (England and France) dictated terms in Peking. But time blunts recollection, and very quickly so with the Chinese, whose vanity is proof against almost any assault, and recovers from almost any wound.
We trust that the Powers are not making a huge mistake, which they will bitterly regret hereafter, in withdrawing the troops from China before the return of the Imperial Court and the re-establishment of the Government at Peking. But there are certainly disquieting indications of future trouble. In the first place, the delay of the Chinese Court in returning from -Hsianfu, joine with the evident lack of trust in Western good faith, is significant of the far from friendly spirit felt by the so-called Government towards foreigners. Clearly the Empress Dowager's opinion of the Treaty Powers has been worsened by the events of the past eighteen months, and the fact that she favoured and continues to favour officials with Boxer proclivities is not calculated to create any confidence in her or her advisers. Then there are the facts, all too obvious, that men like Prince TUAN and ex-General TUNG FURSIANG are high in favour at Hsianfu, although they were among the prime movers of the anti-foreign outbreak of last year. Both these powerful mandarins are at the head of numerous troops, the former being practically the leader of a formidable Mongol cavalry force, and the latter having at his beck thousands of hardy troops from Kansuh, able and ready to fight. Should these two chiefs be able to form a junction they might readily decide the fate of North China, whatever might happen in the southern provinces. What is the precise danger to be apprehended from the move- ments of these two whilom traitors to His Majesty the Emperor KWANG Hsu, it is difficult to determine, for there is a strong conflict of opinion on the subject, many persons being of opinion that the Chi- nese have had more than enough of war and its attendant miseries, while others are convinced that the Govein- ment, in league with the anti-foreign party, are only biding their time to secure their revenge for the capture and partial sack of Tientsin and Peking.
The Peking correspondent of our Shanghai morning contemporary is evidently firmly convinced that another rising is inevitable, and that it will not be a mere abortive rebellion of the people against the Govern- ment. He 88ys :-" All the Peking
"authorities emphatically deny that Tuxa FUHSIANG is contemplating rebellion ['", against the Empress. They say he is still "in high favour with that lady, and has nothing to gain by rebellion. The general
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Moreover, Sir CLAUDE MACDONALD has not shown himself in the past to be an infallible guide. He utterly failed to grasp the danger of the Boxer outbreak until the Legations were invested, and he seems to have been bamboozled by the officials until he could no longer resist the evidence of his own senses and reluctantly had to admit that the Imperial soldiers were also taking a hand in the attempt to storm the Legations and massacre their inmates. Of course it is easy to err in the other direction. and to give too credulous an ear to native reports. Making all allowance for exaggera tions, such as that a million Mongols are ready to spring to arms in defence of the Tatsing dynasty, there is little doubt that Prince TUAN has gathered a consider- able body of Mongol horsemen, and that he is shaping a course eastwards toward Yulin, an opening of the Great Wall on the Shausi frontier, with a view to penetrate into that province. It requires no great stretch of the imagination to believe that he is trying to effect a junction with TUNG FURSIANG, who is said to be at the head of forty thousand well armed and seasoned trocps, and if such junction is effected, it will not be made for nothing. At the same time we may take leave to doubt the accuracy of the figures given; probably the forty thousand, if they ever existed, would melt down to half the num- ber if they reach Peking, but he would there no doubt be reinforced by large numbers of Imperial troops, who would spring into active being again if a chance of success were afforded. The province of Chihli is seething with disturbance, and large bodies of men are in arms there, and only require a Icader to make them dangerous. Manchuria is also in a condition of anarchy, and its population are ready to give fresh trouble at the slightest signal. It would therefore be folly to shut our eyes to these very patent signs of future trouble brooding