“Considering that there has never been any disagreement existing between China and Germany, and that the German Government came to the assistance of China in securing the evacuation of the Liao-tung Peninsula by the Japanese for which she has never been recompensed; and further, as England, France, and Russia have taken maritime ports in the East, and as Germany has no port as a rendezvous for her vessels and for a coaling station, her position is not equal to the other great Powers.”—The Tsung-li Yamên’s memorial to the Throne, translated in Mr. Denby’s dispatch of March 9, 1898 (U. S. 55th Congress, 3d Session, _House Documents_, vol. i, p. 189). The same sentiment may have prompted the Tsung-li Yamên to make the offers stated in the text. Footnote 182: _China, No. 1 (1898)_, No. 25. Footnote 183: U. S. 55th Congress, 3d Session, _House Documents_, vol. i. p. 189. Footnote 184: _China, No. 1 (1899)_, p. 67. Footnote 185: _Tokushu Jōyaku_, p. 355. Footnote 186: _China, No. 1 (1898)_, No. 3. Footnote 187: _Ibid._ Footnote 188: _Ibid._, No. 2. Cf. _House Documents_, op. cit., pp. 187–189, a memorial of the Yamên to the Throne. Footnote 189: The lease was later fixed for ninety-nine years. The leased territory covers about 540 square kilometres (208.4 square miles), including about 80,000 inhabitants. Footnote 190: _Das Staatsarchiv_, Band 61, No. 11518. Footnote 191: Meyers, pp. 281–282; _China, No. 1 (1899)_, No. 65; _Tokushu Jōyaku_, pp. 359–360, 363–365. Footnote 192: For the extraordinary proceedings of the German Minister in his dealings with the Chinese Government, see _China, No. 1 (1898)_, Nos. 5, 6, 17, 20, 34, 35, 40, 53, 70, 73, and 113. Also see _Tokushu Jōyaku_, pp. 355–357. Footnote 193: See _China, No. 1 (1898)_, Nos. 39, 49, 74. It is interesting to observe that when, in order to restore the balance of power in the Gulf of Pechili, which had been disturbed by the lease of Port Arthur by Russia, England demanded the lease of Wei-hai-Wei, she took pains to explain to Germany that her acquisition of the port, the meaning of which was purely military, would in no way interfere with the German interests in Shan-tung, and that there would be no attempt to make railway connections with Wei-hai-Wei. An interesting diplomatic correspondence followed this explanation, which it is hardly necessary to describe. What is emphasized here is that England, in negotiating the lease of Wei-hai-Wei, largely reciprocated the cordiality Germany had shown in her occupation of Kiao-chau. See _China, No. 1 (1899)_, Nos. 2, 8, 9, 10, and 31. Footnote 194: _China, No. 1 (1898)_, p. 20. Footnote 195: