186 



CHINA. 



Lease of Fort Arthur and Taliomvan to 



Ku-.-ia. ': i! Britain had refused to join Russia, 

 France. iintl Germany in demanding the evacuation 

 of Lea ..ti-iiu' i the "close of tin- China-Japanese 

 War. a- it wa> contrary to her policy to alienate the 

 ri.-in:; naval |x>wcr of .Japan or to help Russia to 

 c.litjiui political control over Manchuria and access 

 l.i tin- sea. which, it was known, was the object of 

 the interv. '1111011. To keep Russia from obtaining 

 an ice-free port in the 1'acilic has been the settled 

 policy >f Knirland since the Russians first appeared 

 on the Amur and U^aii to push southward in order 



to get below the line of winter ice. This persistent 

 an i-.liev the Knijlish thought they had finally 

 defeated wheii they sei/.ed Port Hamilton in 1886, 

 and under threat of war compelled the Russians to 

 evacuate Port La/.arcff and give a pledge that they 

 would not occupy Korean territory under any cir- 

 ciimMances whati-ver. After the Siberian Railroad 

 -en t.. lie a success and the military power of 

 Russia in the far Kast had become formidable, the 

 BritUli <>p|M>sition to a winter outlet for the railroad 

 was continued with less hope of effectually barring 

 the way. The Roseberv Cabinet shrank from an alli- 

 ance with Japan to uphold the Shimonoscki treaty 

 in defiance of the powers, whose intervention was 

 ostensibly designed to protect the integrity and in- 

 dependence of China, but real Iv to keep the door 

 to t he Pacific open for Russia. I'he Salisbury Cabi- 

 net, desiring Russian support in coercing the Sultan 

 to introduce reforms in Armenia, directed its atten- 

 tion to the conciliation of Russia. Mr. Balfour de- 

 clared in February, 18!)(>, that, so far from regard- 

 ing with fear and jealousy a commercial outlet for 

 Ku-Ma in the Pacific Ocean which should not be 

 icebound half the year, he would welcome such a 

 result as a distinct advance in this far-distant re- 

 gion. Lord Salisbury scouted as c, superstition of 

 antiquated diplomacy the idea that there was any 

 necessary antagonism between Russia and Great 

 Britain. 



When Kiauchau Bay. which the Russian minis- 

 ter at Pekin had warned the Chinese Government 

 t<> fortify le-t it should fall into the hands of the 

 German-. was sei/.ed by them with the apparent 

 acquiescence of Great Britain, Russia began to sus- 

 iM-ct a hostile Anglo-German alliance in the far 

 Kast. When the 15ritish Government made the 

 opening of Talienwan as a treaty port a condition 

 of the projtosed loan she found 'herself confronted 

 once more by the danger that threatened her in the 

 treaty of Shimom.scki. for Talienwan was the pro- 

 ive terminus of the Manchurian Railroad, the 

 only available harbor between the Yalu and Port 

 Arthur. 



While the limn negotiations were proceeding the 

 :an i|uadron. which the year before had win- 

 t.-r.-d in Kiauchau Bay. now occupied by the Ger- 

 mans. was anchored at Port Arthur, having on 

 Dec. "Maincd permission to winter there 



and a prior right of anchorage from the Chinese 

 rnnienl. British men-of-war proceeded to 

 that fortified harbor while the British minister. Sir 

 Claude Macl>oimld, was pressing the British loan on 

 the Chinese Government. I'nder the treaties for- 

 eign war ships had the right to enter any Chinese 

 harbor. Nevertheless, the Russian ambassador at 

 l."iid"ii complained on Jan. 12 of the presence of 

 Bntinh shij* at Port Arthur, ami n ..... ived the re- 



S'y that they would soon move. On Jan. 19 Count 

 uravicff complained again, saying that the action 

 of the British gunUmts in entering Port Arthur 

 was looked upon as so unfriendly as to set afloat 

 rumors of war. The demands for the withdrawal 

 of the ships were repeated, and on Jan. 1 J<; the Rus- 

 sian ambassador in London was informed that the 

 last gunboat had left The British admiral had 



acted in compliance with the assurance given to the 

 Russian ambassador that the vessels were not likely 

 to remain, so that Sir Claude MacDenald was able 

 to assure the Chinese that the report that the ships 

 had been ordered to leave on account of Russian 

 representation was a pure invention. 



In the previous October, when insisting on the 

 replacement by Russian engineers of the English- 

 men employed in building the northern Chinese 

 railroads, M*. Pavloff, in 1'eply to a British remon- 

 M ranee, stated that the Russian Government in- 

 tended that the provinces of China bordering on 

 the Russian frontier must not come under the in- 

 fluence of any nation except Russia. On Jan. 1!) 

 Count Muravieff said that if it were true that the 

 opening of Talienwan as a treaty port was to be one 

 of the conditions of the British loan he could not 

 regard it as a friendly action. In consequence of the 

 vigorous stand taken by Russia the claim that 

 Talienwan should become a treaty port was waived 

 on condition that Port Arthur, if retained by Rus- 

 sia, should be opened on the same conditions as. 

 Kiauchau, and finally, on Jan. 21, the demand was 

 withdrawn on the understanding that it might be 

 made a treaty port if the railroad was constructed 

 down to the peninsula. Count Muravieff telegraphed 

 an assurance on Jan. 27 that any port which Russia 

 might obtain for the outlet of her trade in those re- 

 gions would be an open port. Lord Salisbury, mis- 

 taking the character and the language of the com- 

 munication, said in Parliament that he had the 

 written assurance that Talienwan, when it came 

 into Russian possession, would become a free port, 

 which was better than a treaty port. M. de Staal, 

 the Russian ambassador, wrote to correct him, stat- 

 ing that the assurance was verbal and that the 

 Russian Government, in the event of its acquiring 

 an outlet into Chinese waters, would be free to de- 

 cide whether to establish a free port there or to 

 assimilate the port in question to the treaty ports 

 of the Chinese littoral. 



The Chinese Government, anxious to preserve 

 Manchuria, requested Great Britain to enter into 

 friendly negotiations with a view of protecting 

 China against foreign pressure. This was regarded 

 by British statesmen as tantamount to a request 

 that the British Government should guarantee the 

 territory of China, which that Government was not 

 prepared to undertake. On March 8, after the con- 

 clusion of the Anglo-German loan, Russia made a 

 peremptory demand for the cession of Port Arthur 

 and Talienwan on the same terms the Germans 

 received in respect of Kiauchau, one of the reasons 

 advanced being to assist in protecting Manchuria 

 against the aggression of other powers. The Chi- 

 nese ambassador at Berlin, Ilsu-Ching-Cheng, was 

 ordered to St. Petersburg to endeavor to obtain a 

 withdrawal of the demand. The Russian Govern- 

 ment allowed an extension of the time given for the 

 answer until he could be heard. The Tsung-li- 

 Yamen still looked to England for help, but re- 

 ceived only an assurance that the British Govern- 

 ment had no designs on Manchuria or on any part 

 of China unless driven thereto by the aggression of 

 other powers. On March 13 the British ambassa- 

 dor at St. Petersburg asked for an assurance that 

 Port Arthur, equally with Talienwan, would be 

 open to foreign commerce. Count Muravieff re- 

 plied that the Czar had decided to regard Port 

 Arthur as a strictly military port. The Russian 

 minister explained that his Government did not in 

 any way desire to abrogate the sovereignty of 

 China over the ports, but only required a lease, 

 considering that China owed this to Russia for the 

 services rendered in the war with Japan. Later 

 the Czar authorized his minister to give an assur- 

 ance that the Russian Government had no intention 



