The western countries stopped short of finally colonizing China. From the Boxer rebellions, the westerners learned that the best way to govern China was through the Chinese dynasty, instead of direct dealing with the Chinese people (as a saying "The people are afraid of officials, the officials are afraid of foreigners, and the foreigners are afraid of the people"). Dowager Cixi used Boxers to fight westerners largely because western countries sympathized with the Guangxu Emperor, who had been house-arrested after an aborted reformation. However, eventually, as an unwritten agreement, Dowager Cixi was allowed to stay in power, since comparatively, Cixi could use her influence to suppress the Chinese anti-western sentiment better than the weak and ineffectual Guangxu Emperor. The Guangxu Emperor spent the rest of his life in house-arrest.

In October 1900, Russia was busy occupying much of the northeastern province of Manchuria, a move which threatened Anglo-American hopes of maintaining what remained of China's territorial integrity and an openness to commerce under the Open Door Policy. This behavior led ultimately to the Russo-Japanese War, where Russia was defeated at the hands of an increasingly confident Japan.

Among the Imperial powers, Japan gained prestige due to its military aid in suppressing the Boxer Rebellion and was now seen as a power. Its clash with Russia over Liaodong and other provinces in eastern Manchuria, long considered by the Japanese as part of their sphere of influence, led to the Russo-Japanese War when two years of negotiations broke down in February 1904. Germany earned itself the derogatory moniker "Hun" at the beginning of World War I when intrepid propagandists resurrected Wilhelm II's 1900 speech. The Russian Lease of the Liaodong (1898) was confirmed.