Scramble for China

In OTL The great powers De facto divided China into economics zones. What would it take for the great powers to De jure divide China so that it wouldn't have any international sovereignty. Preferably, have no world war and it being done during the boxer rebellion. If decolonization happens, how will it play in China?
 
No sovergeinity? Unlikely. You could maybe finagle the affair into a disposing of the Empress Dowger and "restoring" the Emperor as a nominal figurehead by regional governors-turned-warlords who establish client relations with European nations (Particularly in a stronger Ottomans scenario where the spiritual authority of the Caliphate/Pan-Islamism is stronger internationally to the point they can flip the Gansu and Ma... highly unlikely)
 
Top