Editing William McKinley (section)

====Open door in China====
Even before peace negotiations began with Spain, McKinley asked Congress to set up a commission to examine trade opportunities in Asia and espoused an "[[Open Door Policy]]", in which all nations would freely trade with China and none would seek to violate that nation's territorial integrity.{{sfn|Gould|p=201}}

[[File:Siege of Peking, Boxer Rebellion.jpg|thumb|left|alt=painting of U.S. Army soldiers defending a fort in Peking while a zhengyangmen in the background burns|American soldiers scale the walls of Beijing to relieve the [[siege of the International Legations]], August 1900]]

American missionaries were threatened with death when the [[Boxer Rebellion]] menaced foreigners in China.{{sfn|Gould|pp=220–22}} Americans and other westerners in [[Peking]] were besieged and, in cooperation with other western powers, McKinley ordered 5000 troops to the city in June 1900 in the [[China Relief Expedition]].{{sfn|Lafeber|p=714}} The westerners were rescued the next month, but several Congressional Democrats objected to McKinley dispatching troops without consulting the legislature.{{sfn|Gould|pp=220–22}} McKinley's actions set a precedent that led to most of his successors exerting similar independent control over the military.{{sfn|Lafeber|p=714}} After the rebellion ended, the United States reaffirmed its commitment to the Open Door policy, which became the basis of American policy toward China.{{sfn|Gould|p=233}}