The Grenada gazette. (Grenada, Miss.) 1885-18??, 1886-12-25
cHINA's INFLUENCE.
s"~~ss use OF the Oriental Nation IN !.
fIsce Among the Power..

sudden Rise Of the Oriental Nat,o, o..
Place Among the Powers.
The sudden rise Of China to . n,.oo
among the world powers" is by far the
greatest change which this generation
has witnessed in Asiatic politics. It is
scarcely yet six years since the great
empire stood as much outside the poIi-
tics OF the world. and especially the pol
itlcs OF Europe. as if she had belonged
to . separate and distinct planet. A
lew observers, it is true, who had no.
ticed recent events-the extirpation OF
the Panthays. the erasure of the king.
dom OF Kashgar and the determined at.
t'tude assumed by Pekin when demand.
ing the retrocession of Kuldja by the
kussians-had begun to doubt whether
the vitality Of China had not been IN.
dcrratod, but the statesmen of Europe
paid her very little attention. The dis
patch of an Ambassador to Europc
was considered rather an absurdity;
1t was necessary to protect his
suite from insult in London by
some rather sharp sentences; and the
French Government, when it began its
experiments in Indo-C China, openly pro.
nounced the Chinese Empire to be unc
quantite negligeable. We ourselves de-
layed carrying out the treaty of Ten.
tsin with q certain indifferent indo-
lence, and in Central Europe China was
considered an interesting geographical
expression. Within six years this in
difference has completely disappeared,
and China is now recognized by all
dlplomatists as a State of the first i'm
portance, which can exercise a direct
and serious influence on almost every
great power.
She stands, in fact, in direct contract
with the majority Of them. 1t is not too
much to say that the statesmen of Pekin
could overthrow the French ministry
by merely increasing their pressure on
Tonquin and encouraging the Anamese
to attempt an instruction. That is to
say. they could compel the French
Government to ask for men and money
with which to defend their Indo-C Chinese
possession on a scale which the peasant
~ would assuredly not bear, and
which even il voted, would ALLEVIATE the
chamber. The Chinese are quite aware
of this fact, and are aver now striking
blows at France which exasperate the
foreign Office in Paris to the last degree.
Pekin has decreed that the old arrange
ment, confirmed by a treaty in 1859, by
which France is the recognized pro-
tector of Catholic Chinese converts,
shall be abrogated; and though M. De
Freycinet RACES and threatens both
China ana the papacy, the change un-
der which the Pope will plant a Nunc.o
in Pekin was arranged, and France will
have no remedy except in impractical
bic war. The Chinese could in Burmah
make every thing difficult for the Brit
ish Government, which again has every
reason to desire their friendship. not
only because the opium revenue de-
ponds upon it, but because in any grand
struggle with Russia the alliance with
China might enable us to effect a seri-
Gus diversion, perhaps to embarrass the
Government Of St. Petersburg more
than by any direct attack in the Black
Sea. The Indian Government acting
in unison with that of China, would
control nearly half the human race,
and could exert a force in Asia with
which even the masses of soldiery at
the disposal of the Gar would be un-
able to contend. To Russia, indeed,
China is one of the most formidable of
states, because by an invasion of Man.
chooria or Of the territory west of
Kuldja the Chinese Emperor a at
discretion compel ST. Petersburg either
to submit to a defeat which would be
followed by instructions throughout
Asiatic Russia, or to forward an army
over three thousand miles of an in
hospitable country at an expense which
would be ruinous to any country in the
world. One can hardly imagine a
worse position than that of a Russian
Emperor with a European war on hand,
yet compelled TO defend his a%scendency
in Tartary against q General like Tso.
London Spectator.
Cheek Pure and Simple.