Within months after Japan returned the Liaodong peninsula, Russia started construction on the peninsula and a railway to Harbin from Port Arthur, despite Chinese protests. Eventually, Russia agreed to offer a diplomatic solution (See Russian Dalian) to the Chinese Empire, and agreed to a token lease of the region to save face, instead of annexing Manchuria outright, which was its effect. Within two years, Germany, France, and Great Britain had similarly taken advantage of the economic and political opportunities in the weak Chinese Empire, each taking control of significant local regions. Japan also took note of how the international community allowed the great powers to treat weaker nation states, and continued its remarkable measures to bootstrap itself into a modern industrial state and military power, with great success as it would demonstrate in the Russo-Japanese War less than a decade later.Cheng, Tien-fong (1957) A History of Sino-Russian Relations. Public Affairs Press. pp. 55–78
