Abstract: From the 1870s to the 1890s, under the pressure of foreign aggression, the Qing government changed its tribute policy within the established conceptions and institutions. It aimed to strengthen the tribute states in order to resist foreign intrusion. Different measures were adopted to reach the goal, such as reconsolidating Qing’s suzerainty over its tribute states. To transform Vietnam and Burma to be Qing’s buffer zones against the West was one of the outcomes Of the new policy. Qing’s new tribute policy was different from the Western imperialist expansionism because it aimed to restrengthen the national defense through peaceful means.