Such Was The Position Of The
Tibetan Question When Burmah Was Annexed In January, 1886, And
Negotiations Followed With China For The Adjustment Of Her Claims In The
Country.
Negotiations were carried on, in the first place by Lord
Salisbury, and in the second by Lord Rosebery, with the Chinese minister
in London, and the draft of more than one convention was prepared.
Among
such contemplated arrangements were the dispatch of a mission from Burmah
to China, and of a return one from China; the appointment of the Head
Priest of Mandalay as the person to send the mission, thus making it a
purely native matter, outside the participation of the British government;
and the concession of material advantages on the Irrawaddy and in the Shan
country, as the equivalent for the surrender of the tribute. It is
probable that one of these three arrangements would have been carried out,
but that, on certain points being referred to Pekin, the knowledge came to
the ears of the British government that if the Tibetan mission were
withdrawn, the Chinese would be content with the formal admission of their
claim to receive the tribute mission from Burmah in accordance with
established usage. As both governments wanted a speedy settlement of the
question, the Chinese, with the view of allaying the rising agitation in
Tibet and getting rid of a troublesome question, and the English not less
anxious to have the claims of China in Burmah defined in diplomatic
language, the convention which bears Mr. O'Conor's name was drawn up and
signed with quite remarkable dispatch. For the abandonment of the Macaulay
mission, and the recognition of their right to receive the tribute mission
from Burmah, the authorities at Pekin were quite, at the moment, willing
to forego material claims such as a port on the Irrawaddy. Diplomacy has
not yet said the last word on this matter, and the exact frontier between
Burmah and China has still to be delimited, but the fixing of a definite
date for the dispatch of the first mission from Mandalay to Pekin, which
is timed to set out in January, 1894, is in itself of hopeful augury for
the settlement of all difficulties. When this matter is composed there
will be no cloud in the sky of Anglo-Chinese relations, and that such an
auspicious result will be obtained is not open to serious doubt. The most
gratifying fact in the history of China during the last ten years is the
increasing sympathy and tacit understanding between the two great empires
of England and China in Asia, which must in time constitute an effective
alliance against any common danger in that continent, and the aggressive
policy of Russia.
THE WAR WITH JAPAN AND SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
We have seen that, up to 1892, it had been customary to receive the
representatives of foreign powers in the Tse Kung Ko, or Hall of Tributary
Nations. Naturally, much dissatisfaction was provoked by the selection of
a place of audience which seemed to put the treaty powers on the same
footing as tributary states, and, accordingly, the foreign ministers
undertook to exact from the Tsungli Yamen, or Board for Foreign Affairs,
the designation of a more suitable locality in the imperial city for the
annual ceremony. The proposed innovation was resisted for some time; but
when Sir Nicolas O'Conor was appointed British Minister at Pekin, an
exception was made in his favor, and a place of superior importance to the
Hall of Tributary Nations was chosen for the presentation of his
credentials. The Emperor Kwangsu agreed to receive him in the Cheng Kuan
Tien Palace, or pavilion which forms part of the imperial residence of
Peace and Plenty within the Forbidden City. In pursuance of this
arrangement, the British representative, attended by his suite, proceeded
to this pavilion on December 13, 1892, and was received at the principal
entrance by the high court officials. It was also noted that the emperor
took a greater interest in the ceremony than on preceding occasions, and
followed with attention the reading of Queen Victoria's letter, by Prince
Ching, then president of the Tsungli Yamen. Thenceforth, there was
observed with every year a decided improvement in the mode of receiving
foreign diplomatists, and, eventually, the imperial audience was
supplemented with an annual dinner given by the Board for Foreign Affairs.
Through the personal reception accorded by the Emperor of China to Prince
Henry of Prussia on May 15, 1898, the audience question was finally
settled in favor of the right of foreign potentates to rank on an equality
with the so-called Son of Heaven.
We come now to the most memorable event in the modern history of China
since the Taeping Rebellion; to wit, the war with Japan. In order to
comprehend, however, the causes of this contest between the two chief
races of the Far East, it is necessary to review the development of the
Corean question which gave rise to it. There seems to be no doubt that
Japan derived its first civilizing settlers, and most of its arts and
industries, from the Corean peninsula. It is certain that, for centuries,
the intercourse between the two countries was very close, and that more
than one attempt was made by Japanese rulers to subjugate Corea. The
latest and most strenuous endeavor to that end was made near the end of
the sixteenth century, and, although it resulted in a temporary occupation
of the peninsula, the Japanese troops were eventually withdrawn, and Corea
resumed its former status of a kingdom tributary to the Celestial Empire.
Thenceforth, for almost three centuries, Corea and Tonquin bore, in
theory, precisely the same relation to the Middle Kingdom. In each
instance, the practical question was whether China was strong enough to
make good her nominal rights. The outcome of her resistance to French
aggression in Tonquin had shown that there, at least, she had no such
power. But, in the subsequent ten years, efforts had been made to organize
an efficient army and navy, and the belief was entertained at Pekin that
China was at all events strong enough to uphold her claims in Corea, which
was, geographically and strategically, of far more importance to the
Middle Kingdom than was Tonquin.
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