1875至1894年，随着国力的增强、国际地位的提升，美国投射在大洋彼岸的东亚地区的注意力在逐渐增多。同一时期，明治维新后开始脱亚入欧的日本国力增强，开始挑战中国在东亚的宗主国地位。1874年，日本以琉球难船为借口发动征台之役，正式开始其通过军事行动向外扩张、获取政治和经济利益的行为。而中国则在逐渐失去优势地位，因观念和生产力的落后频频在冲突中落于下风。美国密切关注以台湾、琉球、朝鲜为斗争中心的中日局势，并逐渐加深其干涉东亚事务的程度。美国对中日涉台问题的政策和态度的变化，本质上体现着美国对其在东亚利益的谋求和规划。

From 1875 to 1894, with the strengthening of national power and the improvement of international status, the attention of the United States on the East Asia was gradually increasing. During the same period, due to the Meiji Restoration, the national power of Japan increased and Japan began to challenge China, which was a sovereign state in East Asia at that time. In 1874, Japan took the Ryukyu shipwreck case as an excuse to launch an expedition to Formosa, also named Taiwan. Since then, Japan had officially begun its outward expansion through military operations to obtain political and economic benefits. At the same time, China was gradually losing its dominant position. What’s more, because of the backwardness of innovation and productivity, China frequently failed in the Sino-Japanese conflicts. The United States had closely followed the situation of China and Japan with Taiwan, Ryukyu and Korea, constituting the center of Sino-Japanese conflicts. And the United States had gradually deepened its level of interference in East Asian affairs. The changes in US policies and attitudes toward Sino-Japanese Taiwan-related issues essentially reflect the United States' pursuit and planning of its interests in East Asia.