The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-07-05 00:00:00

ATTACK ON THE FRENCH BY
CHINESE TROOPS.

The French Minister of Marine has received the
following telegram from General Alillot, dated
Hanoi, June 27, 6 a.m. :—" The detachment ordered
to Langson is in safety at Bac-Lu. Our troops have
displayed great vigour." It is explained that the
Hanoi despatch of the previous day refers to the
fighting previously announced as having taken place
between the Chinese garrison at Langson and the
French troops who were marching to occupy that
place. Hanoi itself has not been attacked. The
Chinese Generals, Vuong Ly and Nony, with 10,000
troops, are between Langson and Bae-Lu.

In a leader on the position of the French in Ton-
quin, the Daily News says: According to the Treaty
of Tientsin, elaborated by Captain Fournier and Li
Hung Chang, and signed at that city on the 11th May
last, the Chinese agreed to evacuate immediately the
whole of the Tonquin territory. France, on her part,
undertook to respect the "natural frontier" of the
two realms. Lang-Son is just within the Tonquin
side of the border; but in spite of the treaty,
it would appear that the Chinese not only
remained there, but even entrenched themselves
on the spot. The Chinese have had six weeks
within which to withdraw, and the French contingent,
which appears to have proceeded a few days back to
take possession of the place, must naturally have ex-
pected to find Lang-on unoccupifd. The fourth
article of the new treaty provided for free trade across
the common boundary—free trade restricted, however,
to China, Annam, and France. But obviously there
will be small encouragement for trade, free or other-
wise, if this kind of guerrilla warfare is to be allowed
to proceed after the solemn proclamation of amity
and peace.
The explanation of the unexpected outbreak is un-
certain. The Chinese Chargé d'Affaires in Paris is
apparently under the impression that the attack on
the French is the work of irregular troops, outlaws,
and others over whom the Central Government at
Pekin can exercise no control. To say the least this
view is plausible. Lang-Son is two thousand miles
from the Imperial capital; at such a distance the
marauders and adventurers who in the recent
campaign fought under the Chinese flag might
well defy the Foreign Board at Pekin, and receive
with worse in contempt the treaty which
M. Ferry has lately held up to an admiring Assembly
as the inauguration of a new era in the foreign history
of France. However, General Minot, the Commander-
in-Chief of the French forces in Tonquin, clearly says
that the Chinese at Lang-Son were regular troops;
and even at this very early stage the French Minister
Plenipotentiary in China has been instructed to
demand satisfaction from the Imperial Government.
M. Patenotre is on his way to Tientsin, and the French
fleet goes to support him. If the news which has
reached Europe be correct, two of the leaders in this
insurrection are known to be Chinese Generals. They
are alleged to have a force of 10,000 men, and it
would appear that they have blocked the whole
country between Hanoi and the Chinese frontier. The
town of Longoon, near which they are reported to
be encamped, is less than forty miles from that
town. We may feel pretty sure that the Chinese
will repudiate all responsibility for what has
occurred. It is sincerely to be hoped that the
Pekin Government may substantiate its innocence.
For if it fail to give an explanation which the
French Ministry can regard as sufficient, the
prospect of a war between the two countries—a
war which must intimately affect the interests of
all the commercial nations of the world—will speedily
become almost as imminent as ever it was during the
most critical period of the late campaign. The root,
of the matter, however, is this, that whether the Pekin
Government be guiltless or not, the subjugation of
Tonquin will prove a less easy and speedy operation
than Captain Fournier and his countrymen have
imagined. The Chinese ex - Plenipotentiary, the
Marquis Tseng. always predicted this, and he must
be more than human if in his present eclipse he has
not already experienced some passing shade of subdued
satisfaction with his own sagacity.