China's size and commercial potential make it a major market and political prize for competing powers. Access to Chinese trade and influence helps explain why governments with different political aims could resist Japanese expansion. The Boxer Rebellion is cited as an earlier example of foreign competition and intervention in China. Japan, the Chinese Republic, and the Chinese Communists each seek a different political outcome. The Netherlands also has a direct stake in the wealthy Dutch East Indies, where visible allied support can reinforce colonial authority and local confidence. Its navy exists largely to defend distant possessions, but those possessions still require wider maritime support. A reference to the Anglo-Dutch Wars contrasts the Netherlands' former offensive sea power with its more defensive colonial position in 1939.
Notable Point · 7:45-11:45
China and the Dutch East Indies as strategic stakes
Control of access to China and anxiety over the Dutch East Indies give smaller European powers reasons to show resolve alongside Britain.