 From the beginning of May the Chinese had taken steps to prepare for the mobilization of their forces in the provinces of Zhili, Shandong and in Manchuria, as a result of the tense situation on the Korean peninsula.These actions were planned more as an armed demonstration to strengthen the Chinese position in Korea, rather than as preparation for war with Japan.On June 3, the Chinese government accepted requests from the Korean government to send troops to help quell the rebellion, and informed the Japanese of their action.