When Japan defeated China in 1895, European powers answered with an order they called, “ carving up the Chinese melon.” Following the division of Africa among European powers, they turned their sights to what they saw as an extremely weak Chinese government. European powers and America began to scramble for what was called “spheres of interest.” These spheres of interest involved holding leases for all railway and public advantages in different regions of China. Russia got Port Arthur, Britain got the New Territories near the Hong Kong region, Germany got Shantung and America got nothing. Ameri