In an open letter published from Shanghai en route to joining Sun Yat-sen’s breakaway Southern government, Wu Tingfang addressed himself once more to America: ‘The war in Europe is being fought . . . to put an end to Prussian militarism,’ he insisted. ‘And I want the Americans here to understand that China’s present troubles are due to exactly the same causes.’ Drawing on his Gladstonian background, the new language of liberal internationalism came fluently to Wu: ‘We are engaged in a struggle between democracy and militarism . . . I ask Americans to be patient and give China a chance.
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