Taken from the Donghua Record of the Guangxu Reign: the second month of the seventh year of the Guangxu Reign [March, 1881]; section pg. 24-25 (book pg.1054-1055)

Mar. 17, 1881 Reporting from the Office in charge of Affairs of All Nations.

In March, 1879, because of the report submitted by Minister Chen Lanbin who was sent to the United States, Spain and Peru, my office was going to send a letter to Chen Fang, the Board Chairman of Chinese Chamber of Commerce in the Sandalwood Islands, or the Kingdom of Hawaii, requesting him to manage the Chinese people there. We submitted a report to explain the situation and asked for Your Majesty�s approval. Because there was no treaty between Hawaii and China, we proposed that Minister Chen Lanbin should ask Chen Fang to inspect how many Chinese people were there and what regulations they had, and Chen Fang should submit a report to Minister Chen within one year. Later we received Your Majesty�s approval, so we asked Mr. Chen Fang to follow the directives.

According to the report from Minister Chen Lanbin and Deputy Minister Yung Wing, the Board Chairman with the rank of prefect Chen Fang has requested to send someone else to replace him after his one-year term ended. In another report sent to my office by Minister Chen, we are told that although China has no official diplomatic relations with Hawaii, countries like Russia also do not have diplomatic relations with Hawaii, and yet they have consulates there. Now, Chen Fang has finished his one-year term. He has never neglected his duties entrusted to him, and he seems to know that place very well. Therefore, Minister Chen feels it appropriate to establish a consulate in Honolulu and appoint Chen Fang as the consul. During Chen�s term as the Board Chairman, he had a translator and a secretary working for him. The staff expenditures were self-funded. Minister Chen proposes that in the future the Chinese embassy in the United States could earmark 2,000 to 3,000 taels of silver every year to support the consulate in Honolulu. We have studied those foreign countries with which China has diplomatic relations. We have consul in Singapore of the United Kingdom and in San Francisco of the United States. They are appointed to protect the Chinese laborers and businessmen working in those countries. Although there is no diplomatic relations between China and Hawaii, Hawaii is an important place for Chinese people who travel overseas. It is the gateway to San Francisco, and an important stop between China and Peru. There are more and more Chinese laborers going to Hawaii to make a living. Recently, the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company�s ships also sail back and forth between China and Hawaii. There would be more and more Chinese merchants to travel there by ship. If we do not have a consul to protect them, we are afraid that when more and more Chinese people stay there, the locals might start to suspect and resent. Since Minister Chen says in his report that Russia and other countries have established consulates in Honolulu, can it be possible to appoint the Board Chairman with the rank of prefect Chen Fang as the consul to manage Chinese people there? If Your Majesty approve, my office will notify him with the appointment and ask him to follow the directives. As for salaries and other expenditures for the new consulate, Minister Chen should appropriate 2,000 to 3,000 taels of silver from the embassy funds every year, which will be reported to my office for reimbursement and certification.
(Emperor�s directive: proceed as proposed.)