Li Hongzhang used the Siege of the International Legations as a political weapon against his rivals in Beijing since he controlled the Chinese telegraph service. He exaggerated and lied, claiming that Chinese forces committed atrocities and murder upon the foreigners and exterminated all of them. The information was sent to the Western world. He aimed to infuriate the Europeans against the Chinese forces in Beijing and succeeded in spreading massive amounts of false information to the West. The false information spread by Li played a part in the massive atrocities that the foreigners later committed upon the Chinese in Beijing. For refusing to obey the Chinese government's orders and not sending his own troops to help the Chinese army at all during the Boxer Rebellion, Li Hongzhang was praised by Westerners.