In the last third of the XIX century. The rivalry between the colonial Powers in China and the countries of Southeast Asia has intensified. The Russian Empire, which was then firmly established on the Pacific coast, also took part in it. The activation of this new direction of Russia's foreign policy was primarily reflected in the creation of the military Pacific Fleet 1, whose vessels now regularly made flights from China to Kronstadt. Merchant ships of the Russian Society of Shipping and Trade and the Voluntary Fleet plied from Odessa to Shanghai, calling at the ports of Southeast Asia (Batavia, Singapore, Saigon). There has also been an expansion of ties. Russia began to appoint its consular, military and trade representatives to the Southeast Asian countries. The first Russian consulate in South-East Asia2 was opened in Singapore, the center of the English colony Straits Settlement. He became a professional diplomat Artemy Markovich Vyvodtsev, who was appointed in 1890. However, already in the 1870s and 1880s, the interests of the Russian Empire were represented here by a freelance consul-a respected and rich Chinese merchant Whampoa (Ho Akei)3. There is no doubt that the appearance of the Russian consul in Singapore was connected with the trade, economic and strategic importance of the city. Vyvodtsev arrived in Singapore in October 1890. This was no longer the small village on the island (at the southernmost tip of the Malacca Peninsula) where the population was engaged in piracy and fishing, as it was seen on January 29, 1819, by T. S. Raffles, who was obsessed with the idea of creating a port in the Strait of Malacca that would help expand British colonial power in the South Seas, replacing the Netherlands. By the end of the 19th century. Singapore fully met the expectations of its" godfather "T. Raffles, winning the title of "pearl of British Malaya" and almost surpassing the entire Dutch Indies in terms of trade turnover.41 In 1897-1900. Russia ranked thir ... Read more