When the Boxer Rebellion broke out in 1900, it stoked fears of the "Yellow Peril" throughout the world, but Ukhtomsky used the occasion to repeat in a memo to the Emperor Nicholas II his long held beliefs about Asia, arguing that the Boxer Rebellion was fundamentally directed against the Western powers, and that Russia's relationship with China was different in his view. Ukhtomsky concluded: "There are in essence no borders for us in Asia, and there cannot be any, other than the immeasurable blue sea freely lapping at her shores, as unbridled as the spirit of the Russian people". Ukhtomsky was dispatched to Beijing to offer Russian support against the Western powers who might seek to take advantage of the situation and push into China. By the time he arrived in Shanghai, he was too late. The Western powers had lifted the Siege of Peking a month earlier and had occupied the city. Despite offering to represent the Chinese to the occupying armies he was recalled to Saint Petersburg.