What if China, miraculously, had a more competent leadership in the late 19th century, allowing them to win the First Sino-Japanese War? Could That, combine with other strokes of good luck (Russians not attacking Manchuria, a string of competent administrators etc..) allow China to reach close to the strength of OTL Imperial Japan by TTL 1930s/40s? Perhaps ITTL analogue of WW2, it would be China that would be strong enough to attack and conquer European possesions in SE Asia?