Li Hongzhang enjoys a high reputation in the eyes of the great powers. 1896 During Li Hongzhang's visit to the United States, an American journalist described him as having a kind face, bright eyes and flashing wisdom and humor. He never asks for anything, but he always gets it. He is easy to talk with people and doesn't make people nervous ... He is very polite to women and loves children.
However, Li Hongzhang will not give up any opportunity to fight for the rights of American Chinese immigrants. After his visit to the United States, he deliberately avoided the western United States and chose Canada as his return route, which attracted the attention of American journalists and interviewed him on this matter. Li Hongzhang took the opportunity to ask the American media to help China immigrants: "I hope the American press can help China immigrants. You are proud of your democracy and freedom, but is your Chinese exclusion bill free for Chinese? ..... I believe that the American press can help China immigrants cancel the Chinese Exclusion Act. "
Li Hongzhang also made great efforts to abolish the opium trade imposed on China. To this end, on August 27th, 1894, he met with Yue Se Alexander, executive secretary of the World Coalition against Smoking, an Englishman. Later, an act of the British Parliament banned the opium trade.
Li Hongzhang was also recognized by outstanding figures of his time. For example, Zhang Zhidong, then governor of Huguang, came forward to discuss countermeasures with ministers. Beijing does not guarantee. If the empress dowager and the emperor are killed in the war, the central government will face collapse and the country will fall into complete chaos. In order to avoid this situation, ministers collegiate, and then * * * elected Li Hongzhang as the "president" of China to take charge of the overall situation.
Li Hongzhang attached great importance to western science and sent the first batch of foreign students from China to the United States to study modern science and technology. Zhan Tianyou is the representative of these international students who have been admitted to famous universities such as Yale. In addition, the telegraph industry in China was also developed by these students. Li Hongzhang actively studied new things and once asked an international student what a parabola was. The young man explained for a long time, but Li still didn't understand. The young man is anxious: "Peeing is a parabola!" " "Li suddenly realized.
Even Mr. Fei Zhengqing, an American Harvard sinologist who strongly denied the existence of "imperialism" in China for most of his life, finally found his conscience in his later years and said a fair word: "The reason why the great powers failed to" split China "was partly because China was good at using one country to contain another." And avoid Eight-Nation Alliance dismembered China, is li hongzhang.
Li Hongzhang should be responsible for the failure of the Sino-Japanese War, because the battle between industrialized Japan and agricultural China was decided before the war. Li Hongzhang was the most outstanding diplomat in the late Qing Dynasty. He devoted himself to China's diplomatic career in the second half of his life, and he did his duty as a diplomat in the international environment at that time.
Li Hongzhang was born in the darkest and most turbulent era of the Qing Dynasty. Every time he "appeared", when the country was in danger, the Great Qing Dynasty asked him to undertake all the "most embarrassing" things. Therefore, when the people of China curse and denounce him, they really can't "criticize themselves" and really can't "give up the people's responsibility".