In fact, after the British government learned that the vanguard fleet of the East China government arrived in Java, the government and the people were shocked. Although Java was a colony of the Netherlands, it had been integrated into the Asian order dominated by the United Kingdom and respected the Asian international politics and economic system formulated by the United Kingdom. Therefore, the East China government brazenly sent warships to Java to protect overseas Chinese. In the UK's view, this was to challenge the Asian order dominated by itself.

The British public opinion was also in an uproar, and they demanded that the government must respond to the behavior of the East China government with a tough attitude. Some newspapers and media even claimed that they would give overseas Chinese a profound lesson; carry out the Third Sino-British War and burn the Old Summer Palace again; avenge the revenge of the Eight-Nation Alliance, etc.

In order to attract attention, the media naturally swears without any striking words. However, the British government still has a rational government after all, and is very clear about the current situation. The Boer War, which lasted nearly two years, has just ended, and Britain has only won a Pyroz-like victory. This war greatly consumed the national strength of the British Empire. Therefore, Britain now has no strength to launch a large-scale war in the Far East. Moreover, the combat ability of overseas Chinese on both sea and land should not be underestimated. This has been confirmed by the Eight-Nation Alliance War, far from comparable to those of the Boer (peasants) in Africa. It is of course easy to launch a war, but how to end the war is the most difficult. Politicians must consider it before the war begins.

Moreover, the UK's biggest strategic goal is to curb Russia's expansion in the Far East. In the absence of its own strength, it can only rely on the power of other countries. Although the UK chose Japan, it did not underestimate the power of the East China government. In the British chess game, it hopes that the East China government will play a powerful role in Japan's powerful support. If the Java incident and the East China government are in trouble, it will be quite unfavorable to Britain's Far East policy.

In addition, the East China government is discussing sending warships to Java in the name of protecting overseas Chinese, which does have a certain moral high point. Although it can manipulate the media in the UK, in the Far East, in China, the behavior of the East China government will definitely receive a lot of support, including the Qing court, and the support of the famous discussions must also be given. If the UK rashly interferes in Java, it may trigger anti-British sentiment in the entire Chinese society, so the decision-making must be made cautiously.

Of course, if the East China government really just wants to protect its expatriates, and immediately withdraws troops back to Qingdao after the anti-China incident is over, the British government can certainly accept this result. It can even put pressure on the Dutch Batavian authorities to control the situation and stop the anti-China incident. But I am afraid that the East China government will make a false come true and use the excuse of protecting overseas Chinese, and its ultimate goal is to occupy Java and extend their power into the South China Sea. After all, the UK has not played much in such a thing, so the British government will not easily believe the statement of the East China government.

The most urgent task now is to use diplomatic means to figure out the true intentions of the East China government as soon as possible. Of course, the military must be prepared. The truth is within the range of the cannon, which is a universal principle, because military pressure is also an important diplomatic means.

So the British government immediately ordered Jin Zhang, the Consul in Qingdao, to negotiate with the East China government immediately and try his best to solve the real purpose of the East China government, so that the East China government would make the necessary guarantees; and also ordered the British Far East Fleet stationed in Singapore, ordering them to dispatch warships to Java and restrain the East China government's fleet.

After receiving the order from the British government, Jin Zhang certainly did not dare to neglect it. He immediately rushed to the Foreign Affairs Committee of the East China Government to ask for a meeting with Li Sanjie.

After the two met, Jin Zhang first said: "Mr. Member, the British government is very worried about your dispatch of fleets to interfere in Java, because Java is a territory of the Netherlands. Your practice violates the code of conduct of international relations. This will be a very bad practice. It will seriously damage the order stability and navigation safety in Southeast Asia, and will seriously damage the interests of Britain in this region. Therefore, on behalf of the British government, I will make solemn negotiations with you."

Li Sanjie said: "Mr. Consul, we sent warships to Java without intending to undermine the order and stability of Southeast Asia and navigation safety. It is entirely because the serious anti-Chinese incident occurred in Java, which caused serious personal safety and property losses to the Chinese in Java. We have negotiated with the Dutch colonial government many times, hoping that they can take measures to stabilize the situation in Java and calm the local anti-Chinese behavior. However, the Dutch colonial government did nothing and allowed the anti-Chinese action to expand. We have reason to suspect that the Dutch colonial government now has no ability to control the situation in Java. Therefore, in order to protect the interests of the Chinese in Java, we can only send fleets to Java. This is what that country will do. I hope the British government can understand that if our actions harm the interests of Britain, then all the consequences should be the Dutch colonial government, not our original intention."

Jin Zhang nodded and said, "Okay, we can understand your behavior, but I also hope that your fleet will maintain a restrained attitude after it arrives in Java and do not escalate the situation."

Li Sanjie smiled and said, "Mr. Consul, we are all politicians, and at this time, there is no need to beat around the bush. Don't you think the words you asked us to restrain you just now are ridiculous? The main reason for the current situation is the Dutch colonial government. The Chinese in Java are suffering from the fate of being killed and robbed. Why didn't you ask the Dutch colonial government to restrain you, or why did you not choose and restrain when Britain launched the Opium War?"

Jin Zhang also smiled bitterly and said, "Well, Mr. Committee member, the British government is willing to mediate the conflict between you and the Dutch colonial government and restore stability to Java, but we hope to know, what is your ultimate goal? Just protect the Chinese in Java, and will withdraw troops after the situation in Java will return to stability, or have other plans."

Li Sanjie said: "Mr. Consul, we welcome the mediation of the British government, and we also know what the British government is worried about? Don't worry! We will not take this opportunity to invade Java, but we must ensure the safety of Chinese in Java. Otherwise, if we leave Java and then there will be another anti-Chinese incident in Java, then the Chinese in Java will still be harmed."

Jin Zhang said: "So what kind of guarantee do you need?"

Li Sanjie said: "First of all, Java must stop anti-Chinese behavior immediately, and a severe blow to the indigenous people who do not stop anti-Chinese will be punished; secondly, it is to compensate the economic losses of the Chinese victims in the anti-Chinese incident, and severely punish those who commit major evil deeds in this anti-Chinese incident; thirdly, it adopts effective measures and ensure in writing that there is no anti-Chinese incident in Java. Of course, the measures that all should be conducted by representatives of Java Chinese and the Dutch colonial government, and we can participate as supervision."

Jin Zhang frowned. In his opinion, among these three conditions, the Dutch colonial government may have to accept the first one. In the second article, compensation for the Chinese is definitely not a small number, which means that the Dutch colonial government will have to pay a lot of financial losses. Severely punishing the main plot and major evil deeds will even ruin the Dutch colonial government's prestige in Java. It will be very difficult to provoke conflicts between the locals and the Chinese in the future.

Of course, this is the Dutch problem and it does not suffer any loss to the UK. Moreover, if the British government puts pressure on the Netherlands, it can still force the Netherlands to accept it completely. If such conditions can be exchanged for the East China government to withdraw its troops from Java, the British government can still accept it. The Dutch's losses are the Dutch's business. Britain is just for its own interests and has no obligation to stand up for the Netherlands. What really makes Jin Zhang very worried is the third article, because this article is too flexible. Who knows what will be the result in the end? What if the Chinese ask the Dutch colonial government to accept the East China government's garrison in Java?

But Jin Zhang could not express his objection, because the East China government introduced the Javanese as a shield. After all, the Javanese Chinese were the victims of this incident. Although Jin Zhang also knew that the Javanese Chinese were just puppets launched by the East China government and were completely controlled by the East China government. Of course, the British government can also require supervision to participate in the negotiations. After all, they are mediators, and the East China government has no reason to refuse, but this needs to be proposed by the Dutch colonial government.

So Jinzhang said: "Okay, our British government will convey the opinions of your government to the Dutch government, but before the Dutch government makes a reply, we still hope that your government can maintain restraint and not intensify conflicts and escalate the situation."

Li Sanjie shook his head and said, "Sir, I cannot give you this guarantee, because not escalating conflicts and not escalating the situation should not require unilateral restraint. As long as Java's anti-Chinese activities are not over, and as long as Java's Chinese are still hurt, we cannot maintain a restrained attitude. Therefore, to ease conflicts and control the situation, the Dutch government needs to make more efforts to move towards us."

After hearing this, Jin Zhang had to smile bitterly again. Of course, he had already experienced the tough attitude of overseas Chinese, so he said: "Okay, we will also convey these opinions to the Dutch government. However, in this anti-China incident, our British merchants also suffered a lot of losses, and the situation on Java is now in danger of being out of control. Therefore, our British government will also send warships to Java to protect British merchants and expatriates, and notify the East China government in advance, hoping that after our British warships arrive in Java, we will not cause misunderstandings, friction incidents, or even accidents and fire."

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Chapter completed!