CHINA AND JAPAN.

North Otago Times, Volume 1, Issue 13, 19 May 1864, Page 6

CHINA AND JAPAN.

We lmve files to the 1st of March from Victoria, Hong Kong. The " Overland China Mail" of that date has the following items : — The chief event of the fortnight has been the return of Major Gordon to active service, au event %vhich was at first viewed hy the press of China with an unfavorable eye, The direction in which he has moved is to the south- west of the Tae-hoo Lake, against a town named Yih-shing-hsien, not far from Chang-chow-foo. At first, this step on the part of Major Gordon took both his friends and his enemies by surprise,— the former being astonished, and the latter dismayed. There cannot, however, be the slightest doubt but that he hip done right, and taken a step which will effectually carry out the policy of England, which has been to pacify China, and pave the way for the spread of trade and commerce. The probable plan of the campaign will be to proceed westward from the Tae-hoo Lake, then, turning to the north, to unite the forces of Major Gordon with those of Tseng- Knofan, and thereupon make a combined advance upon Nanking, which, being at present very closely pressed, would, in all likelihood, surrender on mild conditions. This course is all the more necessary, as foreigners have taken the opportunity of Gordon's inactivity to recommence operations in favor of the Taepings. It is well enough understood that ihis step on the part of a number of unemployed foreigners, has no connection with the merits of the question at issue between Taeping and Imperialist, but is solely prompted by the want of something to do on the part of those embarking in the fresh undertaking. It is therefore clearly the policy of England— despite anything that Lord Russell may say hi his imperfectly-formed condition — to give checkmate to the vagrant foreign element which would keep China in a state of ferment. People are keeping very quiet upon the state of affairs. The prospects at present in view are the signs of access to Soochow, promoted as it will probably be by railway communication with Shanghae, and in the opening up of the Yang-tse generally by the suppression of rebellion everywhere on its banks, chiefly the southern. Our hopes are all centred on the mild suppression of this Taeping business, after which, it is trusted, the country will be opened up to foreign enterprise. The city of Kia-shing-fu has surrendered to the Imperialists. The siege of Hangehau is progressing favorablv; six or seven stockades arc in the hands of the Franco-Chinese torces, and the city is likely to fall soon. Should this expectation be realised, the rebellion may be considered at an end. The English officers in the FrancoChinese contingent have been dismissed, owing to an ebullition of ill-temper on the part of General d'Aigabelle's second in command ; the troops have expressed disgust at this event. The Anglo-Chinese contingent remains at Ningpo, whence a small detachment is frequently sent to scour the country within the thirty miles radius round the port. Colonel Cooke has also sent one hundred men into the interior, to various stations on the principal creeks, to check piracy on a small scale, which has for some time been carried on by foreign and Chinese vagabonds. He is also likely to send a small detachment into the Compo, to be used in case of need against the rowdies, who are again becoming troublesome in that quarter. From Japan we have no news of importance. The Ambassadors to Europe are at present in the colony, en route to France. A rumor is current that they are men of low extraction, put forward under false pretences. It can make very little diflererence who they are, so long as they are duly accredited to the various Courts they mean to visit; and it is to be hoped that advantage will be taken of their visit to Europe to impress upon the country they represent that the time has gone by for nations remaining in a state of isolation. As for the evacuation of Yokohama, it would be a grave mistake on the part of the^English Government to concede so much. The time was when the concession might have been made, but it is too late now. From Peking and the different coast and river ports there is no news of importance. In Hong Kong the weather is colder than it has been for the last twenty years, the thermometer being so low as 37 degrees.