Meanwhile Japan had discovered that the question of China's entry into
the war could be used to increase internal strife in China, which has
been one of the aims of Japanese policy ever since the beginning of the
revolutionary movement.[75] If the Chinese had not been interfered with
at this time, there was some prospect of their succeeding in
establishing a stable democratic government. Yuan was dead, and his
successor in the Presidency, Li Yuan Hung, was a genuine
constitutionalist. He reassembled the Parliament which Yuan had
dismissed, and the work of drafting a permanent constitution was
resumed. The President was opposed to severing diplomatic relations,
and, of course, still more to declaring war. The Prime Minister, Tuan
Chih-jui, a militarist, was strongly in favour of war. He and his
Cabinet persuaded a considerable majority of both Houses of the Chinese
Parliament to side with them on the question of severing diplomatic
relations, and the President, as in duty bound, gave way on this issue.
On the issue of declaring war, however, public opinion was different. It
was President Wilson's summons to the neutrals to follow him in breaking
off diplomatic relations that had given force to the earlier campaign;
but on June 5th the American Minister, acting on instructions, presented
a Note to the Chinese Government urging that the preservation of
national unity was more important than entry into the war, and
suggesting the desirability of preserving peace for the present.
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