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Ambassador Conger notifies Secretary of State Hay of an official gift from the Empress Dowager of China to President Roosevelt. Conger gives instructions for proper presentation of the gift.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-21
Ambassador Conger sends Secretary of State Hay a dispatch detailing his audience with the Empress Dowager of China. Conger delivered a letter from President Roosevelt. Her Imperial Majesty sends a photograph of herself as “an expression of cordial relations” between the United States and China.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-16
Uncle Sam holds back “customs officers” and points Alice Roosevelt to “the open door” at the “U.S. Custom House.” An attendant brings gifts from the “Emperor of Korea,” the “Emperor of Japan,” “Philippine friends,” and the “Dowager Empress of China.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-10-22
President Roosevelt chastises the United States Department of State about several matters that he wishes them to pay more careful attention to in the future. Roosevelt firmly believes that the president should only be addressed as “Mr. President” or “The President,” and that titles such as “Excellency” are foolish and should not be used. He would like an explanation of the steps being taken to prevent this title’s future use by foreign ambassadors. Roosevelt also criticizes the speech and telegram that had been written for him to deliver to China on the occasion of the deaths of Emperor Guangxu and Empress Dowager Cixi. Normal diplomatic letters frequently strike Roosevelt as fatuous, but in circumstances such as these an effort should be made to craft a sincere message.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-02
President Roosevelt thanks Cheng Liang for the letter and returns his compliments to Cixi, Empress Dowager of China. Roosevelt wishes that he could speak to Liang in person about China, but now understands the reasons he is not returning to the United States. However, he is encouraged by Liang’s letter, especially regarding schools and the lessening of opium traffic.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-04-06
John Callan O’Laughlin reports to President Roosevelt on his recently-finished trip to Japan. In particular, he recounted conversations with Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Komura Jutarō and Russian military attache W. K. Samoiloff. Japan intends to declare Manchuria a “zone of special interest.” O’Laughlin’s overall impression is that, while Roosevelt’s and Secretary of State Elihu Root’s efforts to improve relations with Japan have helped, Japan, and not China, represents the United States’s biggest problems in the region. O’Laughlin summarizes twelve conclusions from his trip about the current state of international relations with Japan.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-11-20
William Woodville Rockhill recounts what occurred between the Dalai Lama and the Chinese government while the Dalai Lama was staying in Peking. Rockhill met with the Dalai Lama and offered advice to Agvan Dorjiev about whether or not the Dalai Lama should return to Lhasa and accept the removal of his temporal power. Rockhill believes that many of the reforms that China wishes to make would improve conditions in Tibet, while still allowing the Dalai Lama to maintain control over the Yellow Church.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-11-08
Chinese Ambassador Cheng Liang expresses his government’s gratitude for the fair way President Roosevelt has dealt with the Imperial government. Empress Dowager Cixi directed Liang to thank Roosevelt for his work to lower the Chinese indemnity in the wake of the Boxer Rebellion, and spoke pleasantly of Alice Roosevelt Longworth’s visit to China. Liang also comments on developments in China in general, including the construction of schools, the fight against the opium trade, and the building of railroads, the last of these being the reason Liang was recalled from the United States.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-02-18
Secretary of War Taft notifies President Roosevelt of his warm reception in Shanghai and feels that foreign relations with China are exceptionally friendly, particularly since the Chinese regime fears greater incursions from countries like Japan, Russia, and England. Taft has heard reports that Cixi, Empress dowager of China, may soon abdicate and anticipates a succession crisis. Taft is enclosing a copy of a speech he made in Shanghai and is now preparing for a speech he will give in the Philippines.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-10-10
The Emperor of China, Guangxu, writes to President Roosevelt to congratulate him on the successful peace negotiations between Japan and Russia.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-09-08
President Roosevelt asks Secretary of State Hay to acknowledge the kind message of Empress Dowager Cixi of China.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-1905
Guangxu, Emperor of China, thanks President Roosevelt for the letter of congratulations presented to Cixi, Empress dowager of China, on her seventieth birthday by Minister to China Edwin H. Conger. Guangxu believes the letter has helped establish a closer relationship between the two nations and wishes Roosevelt happiness and welfare.
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
1904-12-28
President Roosevelt accepts the letter from Ambassador Wu of China, and expresses his sympathy for the recent deaths of Guangxu, Emperor of China, and Cixi, Empress dowager of China. He welcomes Wu as the representative of the newly crowned Puyi, and expresses his hopes for the future stability and success of China
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12
In paragraphs of his memorial to Cixi, the Empress Dowager of China, the Dalai Lama expresses his wish to maintain peace in the borderlands between Tibet and China and that the imperial order will allow Buddhist ceremonies to be practiced. He requests that the powers of memorializing that have been conferred upon him should be granted in accordance with the old laws and rules. The Dalai Lama was not allowed to deliver these paragraphs.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-11-05
Proposed remarks to be made by President Roosevelt to Chinese Ambassador Cheng Liang on the gift of a portrait of Empress Dowager Cixi, which had been exhibited at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. Roosevelt confirms the “disinterested friendship” between the United States and China, and is pleased to accept the gift of the portrait on behalf of the United States.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-02-18
Proposed remarks to be made by Chinese Ambassador Cheng Liang to President Roosevelt on the gift of a portrait of Empress Dowager Cixi, which had been exhibited at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. Liang will speak on the friendship between China and the United States, and the gratitude the Empress feels.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-02-18
Jeremiah Whipple Jenks believes his rank is limiting his access to important diplomats in China, where he is advising on matters of financial policy. He urges Secretary of State Hay to consider the question of his rank.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-03-30