42th Aprfl, The newly-appointed Chinese Minister to France, H. E Liu Shih heun is losing no time in making known to the world his views opinions on some of the most important questions affecting China and her relationship to other Powers. His predecessor at Paris, E. Sun Puo-chi, as far as we can remember, never, or at any rate, but seldom, made himself conspicuous from this point of view, but his successor is, apparently, a man of different calibre, And there is nothing surprising in this to those who are in any way acquaint-with the new Minister, or who are jieaut of the way in which he has been educated and prepared for the important post which he now holds, Twenty or even fewer years ago, it would have been a matter of extreme difficulty for the Peking Government to have Laid their hands sao Laney Peaition, While yer in China he ently so well equipped for the
had the benefit of being taught under able Europenn instructors and, in addition, having lived in England and France for some time, he has, it is understood, an excellent knowledge of the languages of both of these countries, We have been led to make these remarks by reason of the telegram from Peking which appeared in our columns yesterday morning. 'The telegram' in question refers to the fact that the Governor of Annam is about to start for Yunnan and Méngtze for the purpose of inapccting ibe railway and mines, and special treatment for the Governor is hoped. There is nothing in this that would call for sny special remark were it nol that the Chines¢ Ministe is has telegraphed Pari reason given ty the Governor of to the apa asserting that the
Annam is merely a pretext, and that id his journey is to be made a basis for encroachments on the province. We do not know, of course, what information, unknown to the world, is at the disposal of H. E. Liu: we suppose that it would hardly have been made without some solid foundation in fact; nevertheless, we think that it would be wise to heetate before accepting such a view, un' supported as it is thus far by anything of a very tangible or definite nature. That France regarda as within her sphere of influence the province of Yunnan, contiguous as it is to her Indo-China possessions, is highly probable, but that she has determined to take any definite and important step in the direction indicated by the Chinese Minister in Paris, is, we venture to think, extremely problematical. Nor is it any the more likely because of the satisfactory settlement of the Moroccin difficulty, which relieves France of her natural anxiety in that direction, and leaves her, it she so choose, to turn her attention to pastures new, Ten years ago in France the enthusiasm of color yn and expansion abroad was at its height; but could this be truthfully asserted at the present day? As Henry Norman says, "Such fevers have their rise and full." Besides, we think that it would he generally conceded that jealousy of the inlereasing power and prestige of England had something to do with the spasmodic efforts of Fratice at that time. Now, however, under the benign influence of the better understanding that has happily been brought about between France and England, it may be legitimately doubted whether any such feeling available to influence the Gover ment, or at least the people, of France, I. is beciu-e of these considerations as well as of others that might beadduced, that we hesitate to place much worth upon the statement of H. E. Liv. Rather would we conclude that he, in common with so many of his countrymen, is affected by the atmosphere of suspicion which seems to prev China just now—suspicion and d trust of the foreigner, and of all that he is attempting to do, And a careful perusal of the telegrams and facts published in cur columns during the last few months would, we think, have the effect of confirming this view.
We publish to day an account of remarkable interview granted by H.E. Liu to our own correspondent in Paris, The Minister expressed himself clearly and unreservedly, und his views—the views of a cultured up-to-date Chinese, whose motto is "China for the Chinese"—certainly make interesting reading, and they may possibly afford some food for reflection. His views on the whole, looked at from a foreign, and we trast unbiassed,'been conferring with the Govern-point of view are by no means Unréasonable, His idea that the sporadic outbreaks, which occur from' time to time in different parts of China, are by no means indicative of any general feeling of hostility towards foreigners, is shaed most of those who take the trouble to study the subject. "The old days of exclusiveness," he said, "are over. A great movement for progress and education on modern ines is on foot, Chin awakening in earnest, bub she will not attempt to walk too fant after she begins to stand." All of which is very sensible, Ib is pleasant to see that the Minister recognises the potency of the Anglo-Japanese Agreement to guarantee peace in the Far Fast as long as it remains in force. His pronouncement that the disposition on the part of the Chinese to take railway concessions out of the hands.
syndicates is due to fact that the concessionnaires fail to carry out their obligation! is leas satisfactory, and we think tcareely borne outby the facts of the case, He admits, as, of course, he: could not help doing, that the time: bef extra-terni+ time when extra-territoriality may be said to be within measurable distance of being abolished, he yet maintained that she was moving in the right direction, having this end in view, with which, view we should like to be able to. coincide,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.