Perth Amboy evening news., 1921-12-12

Several regions, once a part or
China proper. which have been ceded
or leased TO foreign governments,
form the subject of a bulletin from
the Washington, ID. c., headquarters
of the National Geographic Society.
These regions, which have actually
been transferred, either by lease or
c~ession, are not to be confused with
the s~o-called spheres of influence"
which are more or less indefinite
and many of which are not recog-
nized by the Chinese.
what once threatened to be the
great international sport of annex
ing parts IF China began with h
arrival of the first Europeans in the
Far East" says the bulletin. "Those
who blazed the trail around Africa,
across the stormy Indian Ocean, and
up the East coast of Asia to rich
Ca.hay were the Portuguese. For
half a century they came and went
in their trading ships. but by 1917
they felt the need OF a station to IA
cilitate their commerce, and settled
at Macao on the southern coast of
China. A region of about four
square miles was set aside for them
partly as a reward for assistance in
breaking up piracy in the nearby
waters, and has been claimed by
Portugal aver since. Formal trans
| fer of this tiny fragment of China
was made by the Chinese govern
men. in 1887, and since then has
been without question Portuguese
territory.
Lull Before Annexation Storm
More than two and a half CEN
turtles passed after the founding of
NIaaaA hafnra China uuoO a oain na11a6
in the name of commerce to give
away more Of her territory. By that
| time all the commercial nations of
| Europe, and the United States as
! well were engaged in the remunera-
tive China trade. Friction arose in
the early part of the nineteenth GEN.
fury between British traders and the
Chinese, and after a war in which
Great Britain was victorious. China,
as q part of her indemnity, in 1912
gave Great Britain the island of
Hong Kong, a few miles from Ma
! Gao. This island with an area of 81
| square miles and n of the best
harbors in the world was actually
ceded and became a part of the Brit
ish empire. In 1850 Great Britain
leased three square miles of terri
tory on the mainland opposite Hong
hOIE II a. l. 80 49,
was ceded.
what may be called China's per-
iod of intensive land losses extend
ed from 1895 to 1900, with five ma
tons participating. At the conclu-
sion of the Japanese-Chinese Wa in
1895, Japan not only obtained Korea,
over which China claimed a rrotec-
torate, but also the large island of
Formosa with an ares of nearly a.
900 square miles, off the central
Chinese coast.
A New Lease Every Month
'From that time on the political
pot boiled ~furiousiy among the ma
tons wishing to follow in Japan's
footsteps, and at one time the world
was informed of a new lease of Chi
nese territory nearly every month.
Germany tried to lease Kiaochow
Bay on the coast of Shantung in
1896, but China refused her offer.
In November, 1897. Germany seized
the bay ostensibly because two Ger
man missionarie had been killed in
Shantung. In December the Russian
Asiatic fleet steamed into Port Ar
thur, 200 miles north of Kiaochow,
and announcement was made that II
would winter there In March. 1898,
Germany obtained a 80 year lease of
approximately 100 square miles on
the shores of the bay which she had
seized; and the same month Russia
obtained a 25 year lease to Port Ar
thur and a part of the Liaotung PEN
insula, with the right to extend the
lease.