Empress Dowager Longyu
The revolutionaries had elected Sun Yat-sen as the first Provisional President of the Republic of China, but they were in a weak position militarily, so they negotiated with the Qing, using Yuan as an intermediary. Yuan arranged for the abdication of the child emperor Puyi in return for being granted the position of President of the Republic of China. Yuan was not present when the Abdication edict was issued by Empress Dowager Longyu on 12 February 1912.