在甲午战前李鸿章与日本的外交交锋中，日本积极掌握主动权并掌控交涉的议题与进程，而李鸿章处于被动地位。最初，为防日本在朝鲜生事，李鸿章主动与日本交涉，提出中日同时撤兵，而日本予以拖延、敷衍。后来，日本提出朝鲜内政改革方案以扭转因撤兵交涉带来的被动局面，将双方交涉重点由撤兵转向朝鲜内政改革。在模糊自身意图、以外交交涉牵引李鸿章的注意力的过程中，日本不断向朝鲜增兵，并逐步取得在朝鲜的军事优势。之后，日本向中朝宗藩关系发起挑战，至此，李鸿章才明晰日本想要直接掌控朝鲜并上报朝廷备战。然而，日本已经占据了军事优势，态度愈发强硬并最终挑起战争。
In the diplomatic confrontation between Li Hongzhang and Japan before the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895，Japan actively took the initiative and controlled the negotiation topics and process，while Li Hongzhang was in a passive position. At first，in order to prevent Japan from causing trouble in Korea，Li Hongzhang took the initiative to negotiate with Japan，proposing that China and Japan withdraw their troops at the same time，while Japan delayed. Later，Japan put forward the reform plan of Korea's internal affairs to reverse the passive situation caused by the negotiation of withdrawal of troops and shifted the focus of negotiation between the two sides from the withdrawal of troops to the reform of Korea's internal affairs. In the process of blurring its own intentions and drawing Li Hongzhang's attention through diplomatic negotiations，Japan continuously increased troops to Korea and gradually gained military superiority in Korea. After that，Japan challenged the suzerain-vassal relationship between China and Korea. In the end，Li Hongzhang realized that Japan wanted to directly control Korea and reported to the imperial court for war preparation. However，Japan had already occupied the military advantage，became more and more tough and finally started the war.
