ABSTRACT
Sir Nicholas O'Connor, minister of Great Britain, had been in China since 1892. He found that Prince Gong's effectiveness as interlocutor between China and the West hardly existed. As a result, many experienced China diplomats were recalled by their governments. This coincided with the decline of Prince Gong's health and his influence on Chinese foreign policy. The Prince was the first Manchu royal member to recognize the importance of dealing with foreigners on equal terms, slowly dismantling the centuries-old prejudice of China versus the Barbarians. The British government went so far as to order Vice Admiral Sir Edward Seymour of the British China Station to stage a naval demonstration at the mouth of the Yangzi River. The real challenge to British policy was launched by the newcomers, not by those who were long established. Thus it was no surprise that London had begun to feel very much besieged by events in the Far East by 1898.
