June 15.
Ata time when Dr. H. H, Kung is able to record a series of special diplomatic successes in the course' of his tour in Europe and, it may' bbe expected, in the United States of to draw attention to the servi which have been rendered to China. and to the cause of international, goodwill by the veteran diplomatist who, after 23 years' almost continuous residence abroad, returns to-day to his native Ind. An unate account of Dr. Sao Ko Alfred Sze's career appears clsewhere and shows that the returning Ambassador was appointed as} Minister to the Court of St. James by President Yuan Shih-kai in 1914 at the same time as Dr. W. W. Yen was appointed to Berlin and Dr. Wellington Koo to Washington. The selection of Dr. Sze, then 38 years of age was a tribute to the! Teputation which he had established for himself in Government service under the Empire and under the new Republic. He was thus China's representative in Great Britain during the critical years of the Great War and the Peace Conference at!
Versailles. His friendship with the British people may be said to have been cemented in those years China _was intensely fortunate in having him as her spokesman at a ime when understanding of her diMeulties and aspirations was more than ordinarily important, lerary tastes which had_marked Dr. Sze's academic career in America where he graduated at Cornell University, developed his. capacity for making friends in Great Britain, He acquired 100 a} reputation for being a most carefull student of his cases, so that. in diplomatic discussions he was found to be thoroughly well seized of the relevant points at issue. This won for him the confidence of his fellow diplomats and, no doubt, their proper respect'on those occasions when it was their duty to cross: swords with him, No-one who appreciates the kaleidoscopic changes in the situation in China from 1920 to the present day, the internal upheavals, the frequent crises leading (o uncertainties which must have been most embarrassing to a representa tive of China's Government in a distant country, will fail (0 discern exceptional qualities in Dr. Szo's ability to maintain his position unimpaired by such vicissitudes. Perhaps his most important mission wa: that which covered the period of} his first-sojourn at Washington, for ft enabled him to make valuable contributions {0 the vital Conference of 1922 and so gave him experience which was destined to be of profound value to China when the Manchurian affair of 1931 raised, the decisions of that Conference in an acute note of interrogation before the tribunal of the League, From America he returned to Great Britain in 1929 for three years, renewing old friendships effectively during the anxious times of the Sino-Japanese conflict. On Mr, Quo Tai-chi's appointment in his Face he was enabled to return to Washington for the final term which thas now come to an end amid many manifestations of the warmest American esteem for himself and Madame Sze whose admirable reinforcement of her distinguished husband's Inbours places her country deeply in her debt.
During his representation of China at London and Washington, Dr. Sze was charged to appear at Geneva on several occasions, first deliberations on the opium traffic and secondly as champion China's cause over the Manchurian issue. His commonsense, his scrupulous caution in the marshalling of his facts gave his advocacy an impelling force which mere oratory would not have earned. Thus, on the historic occasion on which it fell to him, as China's representative the' League Council—five days (er that seat had been unanimously voted to China—to reply to Mr. Kenkichi Yoshizawa's announcement of the Mukden incident, he at once struck the right note of rest-taint by emphasizing the paucity] of information then at his disposal. Two days later he had to indicate that in his Government's opinion a situation had arisen which demand ed action under Article XI of the Covenant. What followed is recent and all too well-known history. Tu the light of after events it is fair now to declare that Dr. Sze was actually" the mouthpiece of that section of world opinion which hoped that the League's machinery would be so used by its members as to preserve the integrity of the Covenant. How that hope was! disappointed so that to-day the world has to retrace its anxious footsteps in recovery of the ground lost, it is not necessary here to! discuss. It was not Dr. Szc's fault that circumstances were too strong. for the League. The dignity of his advocacy and the good temper which he consistently displayed won for him general admiration, 'Today it is fitting that his countrymen should give him a warm welcome his return to enjoy a well-earned rest. He has not spared himself during these 23 years' absence, He has s0 devotedly addressed himself to the task of interpreting China to the Western world that he may well feel that he has to begin all over again in forming contacts within kis own country. Happily he will find no diMeully in the process. His achievements have been such that they carry their own commendation to all who care for China's good name and for her continued progress in world affairs. Nor is it unlikely that the Government will find occasion to avail itself from time to time of the ripe experience and wide knowledge which Dr. Sze has garnered during his sojourn abroad. He takes his place among the elder statesmen as a proved and trusted counsellor and devoted servant of the State,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.