The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-01-30
CHINESE DIPLONACY.

=
John Chinaman may be a heather from
the viewpoint of Christendom; he may
be half civilized when compared with
the finished product of ethical culture in
Europe and America, but when he sits
in the game of international negotia tons,
he can give his adversaries seven trumps,
including the honors, and smilingly win
the odd trick.
From the moment when the Chinese
trouble ceased to be acute and settled
| down to the chronic monotony of diplo-
matte negotiations, the powers have been
| out-matched and checkmated at every
move in the game. The first diplomatic
coup d'etat scored by the Chinese was
the disappearance Of the royal family
the abandonment of Peldn by the govern
ment This meant delay and delay meant
| negotiations and negotia lions meant dis
cord in the concert of powers, which
had been held together in comparative
harmony by the pressure of a common
| danger which threatened their repre-
sentatives. With the emperor and en-
press dowager inaccessible and the tsung
| Ii yamen dispersed, time was nece -sary
TO make connections and secure an inter
| mediary to conduct the future negotia-
tons. With the appointment of Ii
Hung Chang and Prince Ching as rep
resentatives of the imperial government
with powers to negotiate terms of peace,
the actual game began. Months lave
passed but the first moves have hardly
been completed.
With a tact worthy of Talleyrand, the
Chinese have detached Russia from the
concert of powers, so far as active in
terest is concerned and by adroit tick
ling of American egotism, coupled with
vague hints of future trade, the United
States stands with Russia both avowed
champions of a liberal policy toward the
offending empire. The claws of the Ger
man eagle have been clipped one by one
while the ruflcd feathers were being
sn1cothed the right way.
The Chinese have lost no sleep through
the fear of national partition They
know the politics of the world too Well
to be led astray by the fear of an agree
ment among the powers on such a prop
osition. The whole game has been to
put off the evil hour, as long as possible,
when a reckoning must be made and
when that hour came to secure the best
terms possible
The demands have been made and ac-
cepted by the Chinese government, but
that acceptance does not mean a carry
ing out of the implied contract as the
memorandum annexed by Lii Hung Chang
and Prince Ching to their acceptance of
the demands clearly indicates.
They evidently intend to contest everv
inch of the ground in this diplomatic de-
Tense of their helpless country, and one
can but admire the logic of their reason
ing and admit the strength of some of
their positions
The question Of damages is not all one
sided. China Will have a case to present:
and should the determining of the de-
tails of the settlement including the in
demnity go to a court of arbitration, She
will win.
The indemnity demanded must of
course be raised by the ordinary schemes
for such purposes-a tariff on imported
goods-and the foreigner who seeks Chi
nese trade must contribute to the in
demnity Franchises and other privileges
desired by foreign corporations will be
held at price proportionate to the
amount of the indemnity.
On the question of the Importation of
arms the Chinese commissioners are al
most humorous in their sarcastic logic.
they say: while We accept the cond1-
ions of the powers, that the traffic in
war material shall be prohibited. vet we
beg leave TO point out that there are
laWbreakers in China as well as in every
other country. and if the Chinese guar
dlahs OF public order shall not be per-
mltted to carry modern arms of precision
the banditti who are being surrent,-
tiously supplied with the best v-eaDons
Oh foreign manufacture, will make living
IN China very uncomfortable for FOREIGN
missionaries and traders" For heather.
this is not half bad, and one needs must
1eel that when the powers get through
with the Chinese puzzle. their representa-
yves will have learned valuable lessons
IN diplomacy from the meek and low1v
Chinee