During the Sino-Japanese War, it backed political ceasefire and agreed with spending the extra military expenditures, but it took a more clearly adversarial stand against the government, criticizing the signing of the Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Commerce and Navigation and the accepting of the Triple Intervention after the end of the war.
日清戦争中は政治休戦を支持して臨時軍事費の支出に賛同したが、戦争終結後に日英通商航海条約締結と三国干渉受諾を批判して政府と対決色を強めた。