We must acknowledge the acting skills of the Japanese, who promised England and France they would join the fight against Austria while simultaneously assuring Austria that they would absolutely not invade the Austrian Nanyang.
As for the rumors circulating, those were just French conspiracies, aimed to use despicable means to incite discord between Japan and Austria.
True or false did not matter, under a series of diplomatic manipulations, the Japanese government still secured tangible benefits.
By employing their trickery, on April 11, 1891, Ito Hirobumi signed the "Russo-Japanese Far Eastern Treaty" with the French Ambassador Gleytlas, in exchange for French government abandoning its privileges in Japan, setting the stage for Japan to abolish unequal treaties.
Following that, on April 18, Ito Hirobumi repeated the tactic, signing the "Anglo-Japanese Tokyo Treaty" with the British, retracting their privileges in Japan.
