The Difficulty With Russia Had Not Long Been Composed, When, On Two
Opposite Sides Of Her Extensive Dominion, China Was Called Upon To Face A
Serious Condition Of Affairs.
In Corea, "the forbidden land" of the Far
East, events were forced by the eagerness and competition of European
states to conclude treaties of commerce with that primitive kingdom, and
perhaps, also, by their fear that if they delayed Russia would appropriate
some port on the Corean coast.
To all who had official knowledge of
Russia's desire and plan for seizing Port Lazareff, this apprehension was
far from chimerical, and there was reason to believe that Russia's
encroachment might compel other countries to make annexations in or round
Corea by way of precaution. Practical evidence of this was furnished by
the English occupation of Port Hamilton, and by its subsequent evacuation
when the necessity passed away; but should the occasion again arise the
key of the situation will probably be found in the possession not of Port
Hamilton or Quelpart, but of the Island of Tsiusima. Recourse was had to
diplomacy to avert what threatened to be a grave international danger; and
although the result was long doubtful, and the situation sometimes full of
peril, a gratifying success was achieved in the end. In 1881 a draft
commercial treaty was drawn up, approved by the Chinese authorities and
the representatives of the principal powers at Pekin, and carried to the
court of Seoul for acceptance and signature by the American naval officer,
Commodore Schufeldt.
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