The matter of compensation is nearly finalized. However, our position here is that countries should not demand military expenses from China. Why? Let's look at international law: if one country offends another, and the people of that country are united in their desire for war, then that country can demand military expenses from the other; otherwise, it would be unfair to ask for military expenses.
If we think about it carefully, during this war, the Chinese people never intended to fight anyone! It was those officials, driven by their own self-interests, who led the country to this situation. The common people just want to live their lives in peace; who has the heart to fight? Therefore, if compensation is to be made, it should be those officials who instigated the war who should pay, not the common people. This is simply too unfair! It’s like saying if the dog from Old Wang's house bites someone, should the whole village pay money? That reasoning doesn’t make sense!
Thus, we believe that countries should not demand military expenses from China; it is fundamentally unreasonable! "A man shouldn't be punished for possessing something valuable," this is not the fault of the Chinese people!
During the Franco-Prussian War, French troops marched directly into the German capital, plunging Germany into chaos, and many in the nation felt a sense of relief. Recently, it was the same in the Anglo-Boer War; although some in South Africa advocated for peace and lacked fighting spirit, and some in Britain sympathized with South Africa and believed there should be no war, more than half of both countries supported the war. Therefore, this war between the two countries is the concern of the common people, and it is common for ordinary people to bear the costs of war.
But the situation in China is completely different. It is not the fault of the Chinese people that China has angered various countries. When the Boxers were causing trouble and the embassies were being besieged, ordinary folks in Guangdong were still sailing in the rivers, going about their business; up north, where everything was in chaos, they probably hadn’t even heard about it, and even if they had, they didn’t care at all; farmers in Sichuan who grew opium poppies continued to do so to make a living, and they never heard that opium coming into China stirred up foreign hatred. If you were to tell them about the besieging of embassies and the burning of churches, they would surely say, "This has nothing to do with me!" and then they wouldn’t care at all. Now, the war reparations demanded by various countries are actually being imposed on these innocent folks; does that even make sense?
If before the outbreak of the war, you were to ask the Chinese people, "War or peace?", those wanting peace would definitely be in the millions. In short, the Chinese people are all in favor of peace. Occasionally, there are some foolish people, gathered in groups of three or five, who are deceived by those in power and cause some disturbances; that’s to be expected. If various countries take this opportunity to hold all Chinese people accountable and demand reparations, that would be too unfair! What kind of logic is that? It is simply impossible to teach people! Do Westerners really consider this a civilized approach, thinking to "enlighten" China’s ignorance through such means? Knowing full well that people are innocent yet punishing them, even the most barbaric countries wouldn't stoop to this, yet it is now the so-called civilized countries that are doing so, which just doesn’t make any sense!
China's punishments sometimes also affect the innocent, but this is merely because of lousy laws, not because judicial personnel are intentionally committing evil acts. We at the embassy can’t help but notice that other countries are doing this and cannot help but raise our voices to tell everyone: innocent folks shouldn’t get dragged into this! China has managed to keep innocent folks out of it in the past.
In the past, when Japan first opened trade with Western countries, incidents of violence against Westerners occurred from time to time, but this was not the intent of the entire Japanese population. Why were there so many disturbances? There were mainly two reasons: first, the general populace lacked education and was full of suspicion towards foreigners; second, some foreigners behaved inappropriately, bullying the Japanese and even deliberately provoking incidents to profit from them. As a result, friction and conflict became increasingly common. The United States sent troops to teach Japan a lesson, defeating Japan decisively and demanding war reparations. Later, the Americans thought that given Japan's actions, they should demand a larger amount of reparations to serve as a warning, but Western countries had always claimed that America was there to civilize the East, so demanding significantly more reparations would be contradictory. Thus, the U.S. ultimately decided to return the reparations it had initially demanded from Japan. To this day, the Japanese continue to praise the generosity of the United States, saying that although many Western countries claim to treat Eastern nations kindly, only the U.S. truly follows through on that promise.
Japan initially offended Western countries by attacking their warships and insulting their embassies, which were political matters, making the demand for reparations justifiable, and the U.S. tolerated it; however, China offended Western countries by killing Christians and missionaries, which was a religious issue, rendering the demand for reparations unreasonable! Moreover, the Eight-Nation Alliance attacked Beijing under the banner of the "Christian Orthodox Army" to invade a non-Christian nation, and the German Emperor even stated that this war against China was a "Christian Orthodox War," with other countries echoing this sentiment, making the demand for reparations even less justifiable! Although the coalition claimed to be an Orthodox army, those who fought valiantly and performed admirably were, in fact, Japanese from non-Christian nations!
In short, since this war was a "Christian Orthodox War," there should have been no demand for reparations whatsoever.
The sect that Jesus founded, I carefully examined the New Testament Bible, and I didn't see Jesus say anything about seeking compensation. Back then, Jesus' clothes were stripped off, but I didn't see him demanding more than a third of the value of his clothes! Jesus' disciples were abused, driven away, and killed, but I didn't see Jesus specify an amount or ask for money from the poor! When the church’s property was destroyed, I didn't see Jesus demanding full compensation! Even if the priests at that time owned property, they should also follow Jesus' teachings and not make exceptions! Look at what Mark 6 says: "Jesus called the Twelve and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to preach the gospel. He instructed them to take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts. Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them." This passage is very clear and does not suggest using force to spread the gospel if others do not listen to you, nor does it suggest seeking compensation if you are driven out of a city!
What wrongs have the Chinese people committed? They have only been misled by the nonsense of the authorities and provoked by our oppression, leading to these disturbances. Yet we want these innocent Chinese people to bear the burden of compensation, causing them to collapse completely and never recover, which goes completely against Jesus' teachings! Although Jesus' teachings are broad, they can be summarized in one sentence: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing!" This is what Jesus cried out to God just before he died on the cross!
Let's put it this way, let's be clear, Jesus would never agree to compensation! This war was originally fought as a just war for the true teachings of Jesus, so how could there possibly be compensation? What kind of just war of Jesus would that even be? Those countries that profess the true teachings of Jesus say one thing and do another, which only makes the Chinese people even more resistant to missionary work than they were before! I'm not saying that the Chinese dare to explicitly prohibit missionary work, nor am I saying that the Chinese dare to force Western countries to amend treaties and remove the clause about missionary work. I'm just saying that the Chinese will use this to poke fun at Westerners, leaving them feeling uncomfortable.
Six hundred years ago, there was a well-known figure in England named Gresham, who made a clear distinction between empty talk and action. He said, "Anyone who wants to teach others must first practice what they preach. The teachings that the Savior Jesus imparted to the twelve disciples were all things Jesus practiced himself first." Gresham's words were actually a jab at the missionaries of his time.
