1. Dispute between Great Britain and China
The Opium Wars
Dispute between Great Britain and China

2. Growth of Opium Trade
Europeans bought silk, tea, porcelain, and spices from China
Chinese would only trade goods for silver
Drain on European finances

3. Opium Trade
Opium manufactured in China since 15th century for medical purposes
Opium then mixed with tobacco so it could be smoked
Dutch were first to begin trade of opium
English soon followed
Chinese government banned smoking and trade of opium in 1729 due to health and social issues

4. English East India Company
Held monopoly on production and export of opium in India
Peasant cultivators often coerced and paid in advance for cultivation of poppies
Sold in Calcutta for a profit of 400%
In 1799, the Chinese Empire reaffirmed its ban on opium imports, and in 1810 the following decree was issued:
Opium has a very violent effect. When an addict smokes it, it rapidly makes him extremely excited and capable of doing anything he pleases. But before long, it kills him. Opium is a poison, undermining our good customs and morality. Its use is prohibited by law. Now the commoner, Yang, dares to bring it into the Forbidden City. Indeed, he flouts the law!
However, recently the purchases and eaters of opium have become numerous. Deceitful merchants buy and sell it to gain profit. The customs house at the Ch'ung-wen Gate was originally set up to supervise the collection of imports (it had no responsibility with regard to opium smuggling). If we confine our search for opium to the seaports, we fear the search will not be sufficiently thorough. We should also order the general commandant of the police and police- censors at the five gates to prohibit opium and to search for it at all gates. If they capture any violators, they should immediately punish them and should destroy the opium at once. As to Kwangtung and Fukien, the provinces from which opium comes, we order their viceroys, governors, and superintendents of the maritime customs to conduct a thorough search for opium, and cut off its supply. They should in no ways consider this order a dead letter and allow opium to be smuggled out!

5. East India Company Buy tea on credit in Canton
Sell opium at auctions in Calcutta, India
Then it was smuggled into China through India and Bengal
1797 began direct trade of opium into China
Chinese government had hard time controlling trade in South
British exports of opium to China skyrocketed from an estimated 15 tons in 1730, to 75 tons in 1773, shipped in over two thousand "chests", each containing 140 pounds (67 kg) of opium. In the 1820s, opium trade averaged 900 tons per year from Bengal to China.

6. Napier Affair
Lord Napier tried to circumvent the Canton Trade laws to reinstitute East India’s monopoly
Governor of Macao closed trade with Britain September 2, 1834
British resumed trade under old restrictions

7. First Opium War
1838 Chinese instituted death penalty for native traffickers of opium
March 1839 – new commissioner to control opium trade – Lin Zexu
Lin imposed embargo on Britain unless they permanently ended the trade trade

8. First Opium War
March 27, 1839 – British Superintendent of Trade – Charles Elliot demanded all British subjects turn over opium to him
Opium amounting to a year’s worth of trade was given to Commissioner Lin
Trade resumed with Britain and no drugs were smuggled

9. First Opium War
Lin demanded British merchants to sign a bond promising not to deal opium under penalty of death
Lin disposed of the opium – dissolving it in the ocean
Did not realize the impact of this action!
disposed of the opium, by dissolving it with water, salt and lime and flushing it out into the ocean. He then apologised to the spirit of the Southern Sea in a special prayer.

10. First Opium War
British merchants and government regarded this as destruction of private property
Responded by sending warships, soldiers, and the British India Army into China June 1840
Had superior military force – attacked coastal cities, defeated Qing forces easily

11. End of the War British took Canton and sailed up the Yangtze River
Took Tax Barges, cut revenue of imperial court of Beijing
1842 Qing sued for peace
Ended with Treaty of Nanjing

12. Treaty of Nanjing Referred to as the Unequal Treaties – accepted 1843
China
Ceded Hong Kong to the British
Opened ports to British – Canton, Amoy, Fuzhou, Ningbo, Shanghai

13. Treaty of Nanjing Great Britain received 21 million ounces of silver
Fixed tariffs
Extraterritoriality for British citizens on Chinese soil
Most favored nation status
Allowed missionaries into interior of China
Allowed British merchants sphere of influence in and around British ports
Extraterritoriality is the state of being exempt from the jurisdiction of local law, usually as the result of diplomatic negotiations. Extraterritoriality can also be applied to physical places, such as embassies, consulates, or military bases of foreign countries, or offices of the United Nations. These places remain the sovereign territories of the host countries, and although they are not subject to local law, local law enforcement agencies do have the duties of protecting them from outside disturbances and can in some cases arrest a person there for crimes committed on the host states' soil.

14. Treaty of Nanjing Unresolved Issues Status of opium trade with China
Equivalent American treaty forbade opium trade with China
However, both Americans and British were subject only to the legal trade of their consuls

15. Second Opium War 1856 - 1860 Also known as Arrow War
Followed incident when Chinese bordered British registered, Chinese owned ship – the Arrow
Crew was accused of piracy and smuggling
Were arrested

16. Second Opium War
British claimed ship was flying British flag and was protected under the Treaty of Nanjing
War delayed by Taiping Rebellion and Indian Mutiny
British attacked Guangzhou one year later
Aided by allies of United States, Russia, and France

17. Second Opium War
Treaty of Tientsin was created in July 1858 – was not ratified by China until 2 years later
Hostilities broke out in 1859 when China refused the establishment of British Embassy in Beijing
Fighting erupted in Hong Kong and Beijing
British burned the Summer and Old Summer Palace and looted the city

18. Treaty of Tientsin
1860 ratified the treaty at the Convention of Peking
Britain, France, Russia and the United States would have the right to station legations in Beijing (a closed city at the time)
Ten more Chinese ports would be opened for foreign trade, including Niuzhuang, Danshui, Hankou and Nanjing
The right of foreign vessels including warships to navigate freely on the Yangtze River

19. Treaty of Tientsin
The right of foreigners to travel in the internal regions of China for the purpose of travel, trade or missionary activities
China was to pay an indemnity to Britain and France in 2 million taels of silver respectively, and compensation to British merchants in 2 million taels of silver.
The Chinese are to be banned from referring to Westerners by the character "yi" (barbarian).
Legalized the import of Opium