Trade Imbalance Between China And China

Also, citizens became addicted, and the drug eventually killed thousands of people. China’s actions angered Britain politicians even though opium was illegal in Britain as well. But was a result, war started between the two countries. In 1842, the treaty of Nanking ended the war. It was the first unequal treaty with Britain and it said that Chinese had to give up Hong Kong to Britain for ninty-nine years, the British would live in China by extraterritoriality at four ports, distribution of opium would continue and Christain missionaries will be set up throughout China. When China couldn’t meet the ridiculous requirements of the treaty, the second Opium War began in 1956. As a result, Britain won again by the Treaty of Tientsin. The treaty asked to open more ports to outer nations, let foreign leaders into the capital Beijing, and legalized the distribution and use of opium. Their situation was dangerously bad.

China has 5000 years of history which experienced wars, collapses, failures and successes. The Opium War in the year 1839 and 1856 marked the changing point of China’s trade policy with foreigners, especially with British in opium and tea. China changed from getting tributes to being forced to sign the Nanjing Treaty and Tianjing Treaty with British and French. Due to China’s over confidence and unwelcome attitude toward foreigners and opium, it caused the British to declare the Opium War to China which made Chinese suffer for many years, but at the same time it also forced China to open its doors to the foreigners.

While westerners in China pushed to claim rights and generally oppose Chinese reformers who worked to better China, Chinese government and society faced internal problems. Being a main target for imperialism, China faced much western influence. One of the events that marked the beginning of intense western influence was the case concerning the Opium Wars. A main imperialistic power, Great Britain, began trading China opium, a heavily addictive drug, in exchange for tea and silk. At first, it seemed like a positive idea – the Chinese

Opium came from opium poppy seeds, which were grown and sold under British ruling in India. The British East India Company developed a monopoly which took place in effectively growing opium and making profits and/or trading it with the Chinese in exchange for their premium good such as silk, porcelain, and tea. According to Memorials on the Legalization and Elimination of Opium by Xu Naiji and Yuan Yulin, they explained how the rise of opium prompted many debts and death around China. Opium became an addiction for many, from the poor to officials in government positions. Cutting off all access of trading opium would’ve started issues in the trading network, not just with Britain but with the Western countries as well. Instead of passing laws to completely ban opium, they reverted to only permitting the barbarian merchants to import opium to pay duty as a medication. This made it unacceptable for money to be involved with the product. According to Xu Naiji, smokers of opium were lazy, with no purpose in life and if they were caught smoking it, the only punishment was getting the opium confiscated. However, if any officer, scholar, or soldier were found smoking opium, the would be immediately dismissed from public employ. Yuan Yulin, a minister, believes that the expansion of opium is the government’s fault, being that they cannot decipher right from wrong; he thought it was unfair that prohibition of smoking opium only applied to the officers of the government, scholars, and military but not the common people. The British capitalized on the effects of opium, because many of China’s population were going to put forth their money, goods, etc. for

The long-term effects of the opium trade were economically harmful to the Chinese. In “An Argument for Legalization,” senior official and advisor to Emperor Daoguang,

As a result of Britain’s presence in India, Britain “introduced Western education. This has brought an ancient and civilized nation in touch with modern thought, modern sciences, and modern life. [Britain] built an administration that is strong and efficient. [Britain] framed wise laws and have established courts of justice.” (Doc 12) Although India experienced many improvements in education and technology, China was left in a poor state. Doc 14 states that “[A chinese woman’s] husband sold everything [they] had.”, and this was the case for many Chinese people. Since many citizens were addicts, they were willing to sell everything they owned for money. As a result of opium, China had a growing poor rural population. There was also inflation and heavy taxes which didn’t help

That is, until they were introduced to opium. They got hooked fast and it became extremely high in demand, in fact, opium became the most traded commodity in the world. China started out getting it from Great Britain, who was producing their opium in India. Soon though, the United States became the second largest opium providers to China; however, it was produced in Turkey and it was lower quality. Merchants in the U.S. used the money they made from selling opium to build railroads, universities such as Princeton, and small towns like Salem, Mass. Opium became such a large problem in China, that they declared it illegal. Because it was difficult to stop the trade of opium, China set up the “Canton System” which was made up of 6 rules. The first rule was that trade of opium was not allowed. The second rule was that trade in China could only take place in Canton. The third rule was that trade in China could only occur 6 months out of the year. The fourth rule was that merchants could not bring women with them to trade, decreasing their chances of staying. The fifth rule was that foreigners could not learn Chinese, and vice versa. This created a trade language, pidgin language. The last rule was that foreigners could only deal with Hong merchants. The Canton System was not very effective, as Europeans started smuggling opium. Commissioner Lin tried writing a letter to the queen to stop

The Opium War was a major part of China’s history. There were many economic issues, (the high cost of importing opium), political issues (disobedience of Chinese ban on opium imports) and consequences of the British victory (Britain’s greater power over China) that precipitated the Opium war, but the British victory had the greatest impact on China because the extension of British power reduced China’s autonomy and made them more dependent on Europe. The high cost of importing opium had major consequences that weakened the Chinese economy and was a leading cause for the Opium War. Document A is a record of the British Imports and Exports at the Port of Canton.

The aim of this investigation is to find the extent to which the British and Chinese trade of opium into China caused the corruption and eventual downfall of the Qing dynasty. The main body of this investigation focuses on the corruption and failure of the Chinese government in controlling British incursions, which caused its citizens to rebel and thus began the downfall of the Qing Dynasty. The introductions of opium to China and the effects it had on China will be assessed in accordance to origin, value, purpose, and limitation. The British and Chinese trade in relation to opium and its role of corruption in the Qing Dynasty will be analyzed also.

In the early eighteen hundreds, Britain and other European countries demanded more and more Chinese commodities, especially tea and silk. However, only the port in Canton was opened to foreign countries, and Chinese would not take any other form of payments besides silver. The desire to make China into a free market that foreigners have more access to and the increasing, though illegal, European opium import to China eventually created tension between the European countries, especially Britain, and the Chinese government (Allingham Par. 1-2). The two battles fought and won by European powers were known as the Opium Wars. China’s politics, economy, and intellects were both positively and negatively

Xu’s memorandum advocates for the government allowing opium to be brought into China by foreign traders as a taxable good as the best way to combat the opium problem. Xu views strict laws against opium as ineffectual for tackling the drug problem in China, noting in the first paragraph that, “the more severe the interdicts against [opium] are made, the more widely do the evils arising therefrom spread” (Xu page 1). While he acknowledges the addictive and destructive effects of opium on those who use it, Xu believes that the stricter the laws proscribing the dissemination and use of opium, the more widely used the drug becomes. Xu argues that the prohibitions against the opium trade led to increased smuggling by foreign traders and increased use of the drug across China. Conversely, when the state’s policy towards opium was one of leniency, in which opium was allowed into China and taxed as a medicine, the issues involving opium were

Finally, deeply rooted tensions between Britain and China began to come to the surface as the Chinese attempted to crack down on opium use and trade within its borders.

The British then increased their trade and began smuggling opium into China and the Chinese officials were easily bribed, making trade easy for the British. The Chinese emperor demanded the British stop selling the illegal drugs, but they refused and this sparked

This situation displeased the British, as there was a steady flow of silver leaving Britain.

Opium- an addictive drug originally used as a painkiller. It is obtained from the unripe seeds of the opium poppy and can be made into substances that a person can smoke causing relaxation, alleviated anxiety, and a state of euphoria. Continued use of the drug also induces deterioration to the mind and body of a person eventually causing death. The substance was therefore stated illegal in China during the late 18th Century yet consistently smuggled into the country via British merchant ships. As the Chinese placed more restrictions on trade in an effort to abolish the importation of opium, the battle against the drug raged on until war was unavoidable between England and China. It is this war that lasted from 1839-1842