 He became a bandit in Manchuria after the Russian invasion in July 1900 when Tsarist forces were sent to Northeast China, to protect the Russian-owned Chinese Eastern Railway or CER.Wang declared his opposition to both the Russians and China's Qing dynasty, describing himself as "forced to become an outlaw to cast out the Russians and save the nation".His band operated attacking trains along the eastern part of the CER, in the Muleng and Suifen areas.