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Emperor Guangxu succeeded the deceased Emperor Tongzhi.  Tongzhi died without issue.  Guangxu was the three-year old cousin to the deceased Emperor.  The Empress Dowager was the new, young Emperor's principal Regent. Late in his reign, he tried to implement sweeping, radical political and cultural reforms to China.  The Empress Dowager prevented that.  Instead she had him arrested and effectively imprisoned him for the remainder of his life.

China and Japan tussled again.  This time it was over Taiwan and the Ryukyu Islands.  Japan took aggressive measures, and China lost the Ryukyu Islands to Japan.  Had it not been for diplomatic intervention by the English and the Americans, China would have lost Taiwan then too.

In 2008, an autopsy revealed that the Emperor Gaungxu died from arsenic poisoning.  This had long been rumored.

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