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Show AMERICA: THE STRONG FRIEND OF NEW CHINA THIS RESUME OF AMERICA'S RELATIONS WITH CHINA IS PRESENTED TO YOU, OUR FELLOW CALIFORNIANS, WITH THE AVOWED PURPOSE OF OPENING WIDER AND YET WIDER YOUR HEARTS AND YOUR PURSES TO PUT FOOD INTO THE MOUTHS OF STARVING CHINESE. From the days of old Rome until recent times China and Japan were on friendly terras of visitation and trade with other nations. Then something happened: The Portuguese first came to Canton in 1516. They were cordially received; but soon they turned their liberty into license. The Chinese retaliated and with much blood-shed tried, but failed, to drive them from the country. The Dutch came to China in 1622. They seized the Pescadores Islands and Formosa; and after constant war for twenty-eight years, gave up the struggle. The British came to China in 1635. The fleet entered the harbor at Canton, and without provocation, destroyed the outer forts and approached the city, destroying Chinese shipping and the villages along the shore. In 1637 Japan expelled all foreigners because of interference in the life and affairs of the Country. She locked and barred her doors. No foreigner was allowed to enter, and no Japanese was allowed to leave, on pain of death. Japan remained shut until Commodore Perry in 1853 opened her doors with the keys of friendship and peace. On the spot where he landed at Uraga the Japanese themselves have erectd a monumnt to his honor and to the honor of America, which sp.oke through him in the language of goodwill. From 1835, for 265 years, China bitterly resisted the encroachments of the nations, until the Boxer uprising and the overthrow of the Empire in 1900. Following that date is the birth and rise of new, democratic, China. The first contact of the United States with China was in 1784. From that time until now the American nation and the American Church, with a long patience, have made a most honorable history-in striking contrast with the dealings of the other great powers, even as persuasion and fair dealing are in contrast with coercion, extortion, and the humiliation of a weaker nation. |