Page 49 - Reflected Glory in a Bottle

(1859

-

1941)

Over a span of some fourteen years Kaiser Wilhelm fl received three of China's highest-ranking ministers. In 1896, Li Hung-chang made a

routine diplomatic call during the course of his world tour, The second encounter was more strained.

The Boxers murdered Germany's minister, Baron von Ketteler, in 1900. Infuriated, the Kaiser sent his troops to China with the admoni-tion to recall the historic precedent set by their ancestors, the Huns, and to see to it that never again would a "Chinese dare to look askance at a German.' In compliance with a condition of the Boxer Protocol, Tsai-f„ng

, the Prince of Chun, was commanded to personally present China's formal apology to the court in Berlin.

A particularly sensitive question of diplomatic protocol arose. The Kaiser refused to receive the Chinese delegation unless they

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