FRANCE, ANNAM, AND CHINA. I31 



than the fact, of the uninterrupted investiture by the Emperor of 

 China of the Sovereign, on his accession to the Throne, and to the 

 Tribute Embassies every four years to Pekin. 



In 1872, France availed herself of this Suzerainty when she em- 

 ployed Dupuis as the pioneer of the Red River Expedition into 

 Tonquin. 



The Treaty of 1874 between Annam and France, annihilated at a 

 stroke the rights and prerogatives of China over her Vassal. 



When this Treaty was communicated to China on June loth, 1875, 

 (a year after the ratification), she protested, and declared, as she has 

 never ceased to declare, that she refused to recognise a Treaty, that 

 infringed upon her rights and authority over a Vassal State ; and this 

 protest was emphatically and repeatedly declared in 1883, by the 

 Ambassador of China to France, the Marquis Tseng. 



Nor was the claim of Suzerainty and Vassalage the only one, 

 which led China to espouse the cause of her Tributary State. 



Just as France, would consider an aggressive movement by Ger- 

 many on Belgium an infringement of its neutrality, and a menace to 

 her own safety ; or, as England would consider encroachment by 

 Russia on Afghanistan a violation of Treaty engagement, as well as 

 a menace to India ; on the same grounds, China was roused by the 

 threatened supersession of Annamese authority, by a French Protec- 

 torate, on her Southern Frontier. 



The substitution of a powerful and militant Nation such as France, 

 for a weak and submissive neighbour, such as Annam, naturally 

 aroused a hostile attitude, and was the main cause of China's 

 threatened declaration of War against France. 



It was, therefore, no question of Suzerainty, (important as that may 

 have been), but the proximity of a great European Power like France, 

 frontier to frontier with China. 



The whole question turned on the securing of a neutral zone, for 

 China regarded Tonquin as this most indispensable " buffer " between 

 her and France, and by opposing this plan, France incurred the 

 mortal enmity of China. 



Considering the undeniable evidence on which the Suzerainty of 

 China over Tonquin and Annam rested ; considering the justice of 

 her demand to secure a neutral zone between her and France, it was 

 surely a question for negotiation, and for which the good offices of a 

 Third Power might have been invoked, to avert the disasters of War. 



England had no reason to fear alarm or jealousy at the conflict 

 between France and Annam, but when that policy involved a War 



