Would Asia/the world of the twentieth century have been better off if Japan lost the Russo-Japan War, was stalemated, or deterred from attacking?

[Cryptic]

@Cryptic
Japanese China only makes sense if China is partitioned following Russian victory in the war, and then Japan gains more parts of China in *WW1 on the winning side and backs rebel movements in other parts of China.

Ooops, I did not mean to imply that China, as a whole, would still become a Japanese colony following a defeat in the Russo Japanese war.

Rather, Japan continues colonially minded "business as usual" in China: Manchuria is still broken off and becomes a Japanese colony / protectorate. The Japanese still move on Shanghai, Beijing etc. The Rape of Nanjing still occurs, but is dialed down as Japan is more leery of antagonizing European powers. But.... the Japanese skip Hong Kong.

Areas under Japanese occupation are run either by Japanese authorities directly, or via local warlords acting on Japan's behalf. And.... "imitation being the best form of flattery" , Japanese take a page from the Euro colonial playbook and hype local regional identities in occupied areas to create a "Not Chinese China"- at least in the areas they control.

 

[Beatriz]

Understood, I was assuming a General Scramble as this is different and unexplored