Many children of Chinese military families were sent abroad to study in the United States in order to modernize the Imperial Chinese Navy, although they were denied admission to the military academies of West Point and Annapolis and had to switch to other countries after the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act. In 1894 the Beiyang Fleet was on paper the strongest navy in Asia at the time.
Many children from Chinese military families were sent abroad for naval studies in the United States to modernize the Imperial Chinese Navy, but they could not attend West Point and Annapolis academies due to the Chinese Exclusion Act. In 1894, the Beiyang Fleet was considered the strongest navy in Asia.