Japanese naval assistance and its effect on Australian–Japanese relations

Japan’s victory in the Sino-Japanese war of 1894-1895 greatly changed the Australian view of Japan. The military, especially the Royal Australian Navy, started to examine the Imperial Japanese Navy, now emerging as a first rank power in the Far East. A naval exercise was held in 1895 with its object being to defend Sydney from a hypothetical attack by the Japanese Navy.1 Furthermore, in 1896, being uneasy over the increasing power of Japan, the Australian parliament passed resolutions excluding all coloured races from Australia and urging Australia to abstain from participating in the treaty of Commerce and Navigation signed between Great Britain and Japan in 1894.