Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1913-01-15
RECOGNIZING CHINA

he United States is not entirely a diplomatic
question. 1t is enough of a commercial question
. make action by the local commercial bodies
entirely proper
In the opinion of this paper, the United States
h"uld have given official recognition to the re-
public under Yuan Shih-Kai long ere now. In
Iced, the somewhat mysterious delay in extend
ng this right hand of fellowship between nations
:as given the Chinese just cause to regard Uncle
Sam with some suspicion. The intimation that
he United States is willing party to the inter
rational agreement of certain groups of bankers
'0 force China's yielding to their strict terms for
he loan of three hundred millions of dollars, is
,ot an intimation to be idly dismissed
The two great factors in China's hitherto un,
successful fight for general recognition of the
republic have been the diplomatic and the finan,
eial factors. From the emphasis that the "Six.
Power group of bankers has placed ON the ne
ressity for China's agreement to the terms of the
proposed loan, it almost appears as if the finan.
cial factor should be mentioned first.
From the diplomatic standpoint, the United
States, say students of international relations
hardly has valid excuse for not recognizing the
Oriental republic. For instance, the Outlook re-
Gently pointed out editorially that the United
States benefited UNNECESSARILY from the recog
milton of France during our struggle for freedom
in177s.s Uncle Sam himself has again and again
recognized Latin-American republics which have
sprung from overnight revolutions So far as
precedent goes, China has well established a
claim for our recognition. y 4
OF considerable significance is a dispatch
printed this morning from Peking stating that
handing payment ON the arrears of the Boxer
indemnity, and the other protesting against al
legged losses of Russian merchants in province
having paper currency financial basis. In Pc
king this is naturally taken as an attempt to
force China to accept the terms of the six Power
loan, Russia, of course, being one of the partici
|pating and benefiting Powers
Summarizing the whole situation, AMI after
consideration of the international intrigues OF
the kings of finance, the history of the United
States own struggles for freedom and recogni
ton, the precedent we have followed in other
cases, it seems that China has some reason to be
lieye that Uncle Sam is lending silent but Off
|cial encouragement to the demands of the group
of bankers And the moment this suspicion is
allowed to arise, the commercial interests of oul
country are risked. That is the time when the
commercial factor becomes important, and that
is precisely the time when commercial bodies OF
Hawaii or any other part of the United States
have right to express their opinions on the
subject
The San Francisco chamber of commerce has
already expressed it's opinion, the Coast chamber
favoring official recognition. Secretary of State
Knox, with characteristic caution says that he
will wait until the coming elections before rec
ommending one course or the other. But as a
matter of fact, the Manchus have been driven
probably forever from power in China and the
principles of the republic are there to stay
There will be internal troubles, but as vet there
are no signs of revolution against the present
government, which has attained degree of sta
bility that certainly commands the respect of the
American people, whether or not it will com
mand the official Endorsement of our govern
fment.
If the new board of supervisors really settles
this Rapid Transit paving controversy, we can
1,,ol- tho h,1N-C