Why The Chinese Oppose Foreign Railway Loans

Abstract

When the report of Chinese opposition against foreign loans reaches the western world, a certain class of people at once call such opposition the outcome of the historical anti-foreign feeling, oriental exclusiveness, self-conceit, and Boxerism. They assume that the Chinese have no grievance at all, and that these orientals “kick” simply because they are self-conceited heathens who do not know what is good for them. The more representative class, however, do not unreservedly subscribe to this opinion. They interpret the opposition as a manifestation of “Chinese nationalization.” Thus the New York Tribune in an editorial calls the recent opposition to the Hankow-Szechuan loan as “a strikingly characteristic manifestation of the rampant spirit of ‘China for the Chinese’ which prevails in large parts of the country.”There is much truth in this interpretation. But it points to only one of the many phases of the case. It is, therefore, inadequate to explain the whole situation and is misleading when taken as the premise for the solution of the problem. In order to understand fully and estimate aright these oppositions which are likely to exist in the future, we should examine closely the underlying causes from all points of view.