Congress itself fluctuated between its recognition of the territory: multiple times, the Americans had renounced the management of the settlement, but due to its extraterritorial status, the Qing government refused to reclaim it for fear of instigating a casus belli.

According to Denby, "a tract of land" was given to the U.S. by the Qing diplomat Chonghou to compensate for the American role as an intermediary in the Convention of Peking in 1860, along with the British and French concessions.

[1] Upon receiving the word, Diplomat Chief Charles Denby Jr. protested, arguing the Americans retained jurisdiction over the concession, even though the actual settlement was handed over to the Chinese government.

Fearing foreign retaliation, the Qing sought statements from the British and Germans, promoting protests from Conger and his successor James Ragsdale.

Faced with foreign inaction, Li Hongzhang and Yuan Shikai proposed giving another piece of land to the Americans, but they were rejected.

Despite this, the State Department requested Ragsdale to cease further consideration of a settlement in Tientsin; at this point, an "international concession", such as the ones in Kulangsu and Shanghai, were more favorable to Congress.

Following the dispute with Germany, Denby once again began to assert American authority by establishing a local patrol as well as introducing a taxation system for the settlement's businesses.