Foreign nations initially competed for trade with [[China]] by establishing "treaty ports" within which their [[law]], rather than Chinese law, applied. They then sought to divide the Chinese hinterland into [[mercantilist]] spheres of influence within which only they enjoyed the right to [[trade]], [[invest]], and [[proselytize]]. On the eve of the Chinese revolution of 1911, [[Russia]] claimed the largest such sphere, followed by [[Britain]], [[France]], [[Japan]], [[Germany]], and [[Italy]]. The [[United States]], under the "[[Open Door]]" [[policy]] it adopted after its conquest of the [[Philippines]], abjured the establishment of its own sphere of influence in China but claimed [[equal]] access and [[commercial]] [[right]]s in others' spheres. In 1895, Japan annexed [[Taiwan]] from China, while removing Korea from the Chinese sphere of influence. In 1905, it annexed [[Korea]].