甲午战争深刻改变了远东的国际格局，甲午战争的惨败推动了清政府进行更深入的改革，而这些变化都被英国驻华的前后共两任公使欧格纳与窦纳乐所敏锐观察。此文查阅英国外交部17号档案，研究1895年时任英国驻华公使欧格纳在清政府对改革的讨论背景下所开展的游说活动，以及1898年时任英国驻华公使窦纳乐对戊戌变法与戊戌政变的观察与反应，分析两位公使的举措所体现出的英国在甲午战后面对新的远东国际格局时的外交政策转型。在这之中，欧格纳的改革游说反应了中国改革的迫切性；窦纳乐对戊戌变法的认识鞭辟入里，认清了它的局限性以及预见到了它注定走向失败的结局；政变之后他开展的外交行动则展现了英国对中国内政的粗暴干涉。两位公使的行为，本质上都是由维护英国远东利益所决定的。

The Sino-Japanese War profoundly changed the international landscape of the Far East, and the tragic defeat in the Sino-Japanese War pushed the Qing government to carry out more in-depth reforms, which were keenly observed by the two British ministers to China, Mr. O' Conor and Mr. MacDonald. This article examines the British Foreign Office's file 17, the lobbying activities of the then British Minister to China, O' Conor, in 1895 in the context of the Qing government's discussion of reform, and the then British Minister to China, MacDonald , in 1898 in response to the Hundred Days Reform and the The 1898 Coup, and analyzes the two ministers' initiatives to reflect Britain's transformation of its foreign policy in the face of the new international landscape of the Far East after the First Sino-Japanese War. In this context, O' Conor's reform lobbying reflected to the urgency of China's reform; MacDonald's understanding of the Hundred Days' Reform was incisive, recognizing its limitations and foreseeing its doomed failure; and his diplomatic actions after the coup demonstrated Britain's brutal interference in China's internal affairs. The behavior of both ministers was essentially determined by the defense of British interests in the Far East.