The Partition of China.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7736, 11 February 1905, Page 3

The Partition of China.

ANGLO-RUSSIAN ROMANCE IN I THE F-tAST. j The Treaty 01" Shimonoseki was signed on April 17th, 1895, at the j conclusion of -the Chino-J apanese [Year. By its provision China cu'lcii to Japan, in addition to (he Pescadores Islands and Formosa, a large area of territory in the province of iFeng-tien, stretching from the Yalu " ' River to (he Liao River —now '.he ' scene of the great battles hetween 1 the soldiers of Czar and Mikado. ; N'o sooner were the terms of the treaty made public, however, th;>r, Russia, Germany and France protested agnins't the cession of tin' northern territory, with the result that in less than a month from the da'c of signing Japan renounced her c'.uirn " to any portion of the rich con Iry of Manchuria. Emboldened by their . easy success, the Towers mentioned - soon wrung concessions from China. France obtained tile eastern portion 'of Kinng-hung, in spite of the protestations of the British (,'overn- : ment ; Russia got a lease for twenj ty-iive years of Port Arthur a nd , Talienwan, also despite the objections of Great Britain; Germany I ran up the Kaisers flag at Kaiochau : and kept it there until China grant- C wI a ninety-nine years' lease. The !, murder of a missionary was n.ade the pretext for Germany's occupation of Kiaochau, and a similar occui--1 rence in the Ivwan^j—si district gpA'e j France an excuse for demanding I railway concessions from China, , I which Power was fast becoming the shuttlecock of Russia, France, and Germany. "Never before, perhaps," , said a German writer in 1898, '"has jso much material value been attach,«i to ministers of the Gospel in 0 j foreign lands, aroct the manner in I which, after their death, they arc . I used to spread civilisation, is some- 1 I what foreign to our older ideas of I the functions' of the bearers of spiritual blessings." Russia and Ger- f j many also gained important railway concessions ; indeed, it seemed w as though these Powers had but to D ask and they would receive. a ! The dominating position granted to a] Russia on the Ivwangtung peninsula |fj raised a storm of protest in ]Sri- f r tain, and the Home Government set 'nl about gaining a set-off. The late T Lord Salisbury, who was then For- d eign Minister, was in frequent com- }] munication with Sir Claude Macdon- a .aid, British Minister in China, and fc on April 3rd, 1898, the latter cab- (i led to his follows "China n (will lease Weihavwei to Great Ilritoin on the same terms as Port Arthur S has been leased to Russia The lease will continue until Russia ceases to occupy Liaotung peninsula." Some three months ago, the progress of 'the siege of Port Arthur indicated t-lvati the Russian occupa- J tion must cease, and with it would H end Britain's right tot hold Wcihai- o wci. It was consequently announced g I that the British Government had ] commenced negotiations with China j for a modification of the terms of c j lease, and these negotiations, if Mr t Burleigh's information be correct, t have been brought to a successful issue. Thus "the whirligig of time brings its revenges." While Russia will apparently soon be driven from Port Arthur, the British will remain on the opposite promontory, the occupation of which was the outcome r of Russia's position in the Far East. ==—= r