The present war is an object lesson in many ways. The positions of the two greatest Eastern Powers of the present day have, within a few short months, been completely reversed. China, regarded as the Bluebeard of the East, is disclosed as a sheep parading in wolfs clothing; while Japan, who has never been seriously thought of at all, has with one bound suddenly entered the comity of nations and become one of us, whether we will it or no …If the Western world has been blind to the fact that Japan was steadily and surely working herself up to a position which should command for her recognition and respect, it has been equally blind to the extent to which official corruption was undermining China. The same period which has loaded Japan with laurels of admiration and applause, has sufficed to cover China with confusion and contempt …[N]othing short of a complete upheaval and breaking down of old systems seems practicable.

Without losing a single ship or a single battle, Japan broke down the power of China, enlarged her own territory, and changed the whole political face of the Far East.