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weapons were no match for those coming from the industrial
power of Britain, and the Opium wars with Britain resulted
in defeat. The Chinese paid a heavy price for their attempt
to rid their country of the opium. The Treaty of Nanjing
required the Chinese to open 5 more ports open to trade,
surrender Hong Kong to Britain, and pay an indemnity. China
lost its right as an independent nation to decide with whom
and under what conditions they would trade.
In
1856 the British launched a second opium war, to further
open up China to trade. Again the Chinese were
The
Opium War - a 1997 Chinese Film made to coincide with the
return of Hong Kong to China - The Chinese Perspective |
defeated,
and they were forced to accept foreigners in new ports.
Further, they lost the ability to hold the foreigners accountable
to Chinese law. This was the principle of extra-territoriality,
a further humiliation.
The opium trade continued to damage Chinese society.
British sources from 1908 indicate that the opium was grown
in India under British government supervision. For the year
1907, 51,770 chests were prepared for the Chinese
market. There were about 140 pounds in a chest. The British
had 654,928 acres under poppy cultivation and the revenue
to the British treasury, after expenses, was nearly $22,000,000.
(For more on this see The
Opium Monopoly, by Ellen N. La Motte)
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