American sphere of influence in China?

What if, instead of having the Open Door Policy developed, the US simply had a sphere of influence to itself in China? How might it gain such a SoI? And how would this affect China, and international dealings there?
 
What if, instead of having the Open Door Policy developed, the US simply had a sphere of influence to itself in China? How might it gain such a SoI? And how would this affect China, and international dealings there?

Does anyone have an opinion on the matter?
 
By the time the US became interested in China, the entire coast save for Zhili (which, given its position, must be left alone) had become the sphere of influence of another power. Where would this sphere be?
 
We'd be talking about an earlier American involvement in the Far East, possibly. Alternately, this would be an outcome of a different and later establishment of the spheres - something pretty straightforward if China a dodges an early bullet but doesn't become completely stable.
 
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