Los Angeles herald., 1909-08-16
CHINESE FOREIGN
OFFICE Is FARCE
PRESIDENT REFUSES TO SEE
REPRESENTATIVES
CAPABLE MEN ARE REMOVED
FROM POSITIONS
Prince Ching, Old and Corrupt, LOCKS
Himself UP in Residence and
Lets Department Care
fol itself

with which the repTeSeuLetlFcS - 'i'
foreign powers submit to indignity at
the hands of Prince Ching, the presi-
dent Of the Chinese foreign office. 1t
would seem as if the old time eXclu-
siveness of the throne which forbade
audience with the foreign representa-
tives or any footing of equality had
been revived in the foreign otilce, the
conduct of the president of which has
for many years past been a national
reproach.
By the terms of the peace protocol
which terminated the situation created
by the Boxer rebellion, 1t was agreed
that the Chinese foreign office, the old
tsung-li-yamen, had to be reformed.
An imperial edct of July "a, 1901,
gravely declared that international
affairs take the first place 1t or
dained that the ministry of foreign al
fairs, the wai-Wu-pu, was to take rank
above all other ministries and minis
ters were to devote themselves to their
duties exclusively. The ministry was
TO consist of Prince Ching, president,
two assistant presidents and two vice
presidents.
From the beginning the provisions
of this edict have been ignored. Far
from devoting himself exclusively to
the duties of the foreign office, Prince
Ching has persistently ignored that
office. The condition of the wai-wu-pu
has been a perennial subject of ad-
verse comment. 1t became a saying
that the only change between the old
tsung-li-yamen and the modern wal
wu-pu was an alteration in the shape
of the table at which the ministers
sat. The foreign office had no author
ity; it attempted to exercise no author
ity. 1t was simply a bureau of trans
mission. Dispatches from foreign min
listers lay unanswered for months.
President Corrupt
From this position the wai-wu-pu
was rescued by the ability and energy
of Yuan Shih-kai, it's assistant presi-
dent, who had no fear of accepting re-
sponsibility, whose name carried i'm
nense weight in the provinces, who
was backed by the prestige always as
sociated with the vice royalty of the
metropolitan province. His dismissal
man who had rendered signal service
to the empire, but it shook the conf
dence of other aspirants for office and
rendered the position of minister in the
wai-wu-pu one not to be envied.
Since the downfall of uan-Shih-kai
the wai-wu-pu has relapsed into its
former state of incapacity and for this
Prince Ching is to blame. Amiable,
but corrupt, he has for a generation
stood for all that is worst in Chinese
officialdom. All stories tell of his ra-
pacity, his greed, his unscrupulous sale
of Office, his Indifference to the affairs
of state. His wealth Is enormous, yet
no generous or charitable action has
ever been recorded in his favor Every
new minister in every office of emolu.
ment has to pay him toll.
For years he has not visited the
wai-wu-pu. He dwells in a sphere
apart from his Yellow ministers, and
in his private residence reluctantly ac-
cords rare audiences to the represen-
tatives of the great powers. They are
rare audiences indeed For the dis
cussion of foreign affairs he has
granted one of the most powerful for
eign ministers in Peking two audiences
in three years. The average number
of times that, as president of the for
eign office, he discusses foreign affairs
with the foreign representatives is less
than one interview per representative
per annum. Age and decrepitude are
the reasons given for his neglect OF
duty. His age is ", but while this car
be urged as an excuse for his neglect
of Offices it cannot be advanced as an
excuse for his retention in office.
The prince regent seems wholly nm
able to realize the Importance Of the
foreign office. Indeed, no feature of
his administration inspires greater dis
quietude among the we'll wishers of
China. IF for no other reason than
its impairment of the efficiency of the
wai-wu-pu his impetuous removal of
an-Shih-kai was an unpatriotic
blunder. And he is now committing
other blunders, and the complaints OF
the legations are daily increasing.
The senior assistant president of the
wai-wu-pu is a Manchu, Na-Tung, a
member of the grand council who has
been a prominent figure in Peking for
some years, where he is equally popu-
lar with Foreigners and Chinese. His
special duties in the waiwu-pu he has
done eXcellently. Absent since the
death of his mother, three months ago
he only returned to the foreign Of
flee on June 16, and twelve days
later he was ordered to relinquish his
post and proceed to Tien-tsin as acting
viceroy.
In his absence, as during his last alb
sence, the regent has appointed a
grand councillor, Shih- -Hsu, whose
qualifications to hold office are his
unusual knowledge of Manchu script
and his exceptional ignorance of
foreign affairs. He is an amiable and
courtly gentleman much respected in
Peking, but he admits he knows moth
ing and wants TO know nothing about
foreign affairs. During the recent alb
sence of Na-Tung he declined to at
tend office, and yet the regent re-
appoints him to that office.
Next to Na-Tung is the Junior AS
sistant President Liang Tun-yen, a
graduate of Yale a fine scholar in
Chinese as well as in English, a con-
temporary of Tang Shao-yih and other
able Cantonese educated in America
On his shoulders is placed a heavy
burden of responsibility.
Both the vice presidents are useful
subordinates who have been attached to
the foreign office for many years. Be-
low them again is a body of younger
men-councilors and secretaries-many
of whom speak some foreign language.
Selected for their ability and capacity
they are the most competent body of
officials in PelIing. Many of them have
been abroad, and have seen in other
countries the Importance attaching to
the post OF foreign minister and the
devotion with which it's duties are
fulfilled. To them the contrast is most
striking.
No one sees more clearly than they
do how much China closes face" by
the present incapacity of their chief.
His neglect of duty is condemned by
ALI progressive Chinese; his removal
from office is a pressing necessity.
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Information for Eastern Travellers
A.tv. 1111 gfy,nr Far hN