Note 180 — Chapter III · KIAO-CHAU
Reading edition
Herr von Richthofen, now the Foreign Minister of Germany, and the greatest authority on Chinese geology, wrote an article in the Kolonialzeitung of January 6, 1898, describing the mineral resources of the province, and concluding that the Power which possessed Kiao-chau would control the coal supply in northern Chinese waters. See China, No. 1 (1898), p. 21. The same authority had shown years ago the advantageous position of Kiao-chau.
It will also be remembered that during the Chinese-Japanese war, war-vessels of several Powers were temporarily anchored here, so that the superb position of the port was familiar to every one.