From 1895 to 1897 he commanded the Russian Pacific Fleet, initially at Vladivostok, and from December 1897, at Port Arthur in the southern Liaodong Peninsula leased from Qing-dynasty China.

In 1898 he was appointed governor of the Kwantung Fortified Region,[citation needed] and was again named commander of the Russian Pacific Fleet from 1899.

He participated in the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion of 1899-1901 in China as commander of an army corps, following an appointment by War Minister Aleksey Kuropatkin[1] and was promoted to Adjutant general.

The failure of Russia to withdraw its forces from Manchuria as scheduled after the end of the Boxer Rebellion further alarmed the Empire of Japan, still upset by the Triple Intervention, by Russian de facto annexation of the Liaodong Peninsula and by increasing Russian influence over the Korean Empire – all of which the Japanese deemed detrimental to their interests and national security.

The "Bezobrazov Circle" aimed to establish a commercial enterprise reminiscent of the British East India Company which would reward its investors with financial benefits while setting the stage for the conquest of Manchuria and Korea.

As viceroy, he was beyond the jurisdiction of any ministry and reported directly to the Tsar; however, his exact functions remained poorly defined—historian Ian Nish stated: "he himself was unclear about the extent of his autonomy...