Did the Qing Government Officially Declare War Against Foreign Powers in Gengzi Incident

It is mistaken and groundless to say that the Qing government declared war against foreign powers on June 21,1900.On that day,Cixi issued an imperial decree to the Grand Secretariat in the name of Emperor Guangxu.But it was only her statement about the issue of war and peace to the Qing court,an internal decree.It is groundless to regard it as an imperial edict to declare war,because it was neither proclaimed to the public and nor sent to any diplomatic envoy or government of the foreign countries,and its wording was not like an imperial declaration of war.Actually there was no evidence that the Qing government declared war against foreign powers,and no evidence has been found in Chinese and foreign media,correspondence and telecommunications of diplomatic intercourse,the reaction of the foreign powers,or public international law.