However , the foreign powers and their influence in some cases could have been exaggerated .
These powers ( and the United States ) might have their own courts , post offices , commercial institutions , railroads , and gunboats in what was on paper Chinese territory .
The foreign powers and their influence in some cases could have been exaggerated .
These powers ( and the United States ) might have their own courts , post offices , commercial institutions , railroads , and gunboats in what was on paper Chinese territory .