Opium and Empire: The Seeds of Colonialism

By Thompson Kum

This is Chapter 1 of a multi-part series.

The Opium War was a result of escalating tensions between the two major parties at play: the British empire and the Chinese government. Prior to the introduction of opium, throughout the 18th and early 19th centuries, the British trades with the Chinese began to encounter the major issue of demand as they were constant patrons of high demand Chinese goods, such as silk, porcelain and especially tea.

The issue came from the lack of purchasing power in regards to the European goods, as China was self-sufficient in the production of said goods. China’s economy also transitioned from paper money to silver, due to the mass inflation of the old currency forcing the country to rely on silver as its economy, compounded by the China’s lack of natural resources in the form of minerals, China held on to as much silver as it could, thus leading to Britain’s silver shortage when trading with the Chinese.

As this issue grew in prominence, Britain found a viable solution to the issue in the drug opium. Opium’s nature as an addictive drug secured demand from the Chinese, and the British began growing it in its Indian colonies and exported it to China. From this new trade, China began to experience some hardships of its own, a silver shortage throughout the country, and rapid growth in opium addiction rates among the populace. To alleviate this issue, China banned the drug in 1796. Despite this, British merchants persisted, continuing to illegally smuggle opium into the country.

Whilst this occurred, the British were dissatisfied with the restrictions on who they could trade with in China. All foreign trade in the country required approval from the Hong merchants, which were a group of officials which enforced regulations upon foreign traders, with the British being only able to partake in trade with the officials at the southern port of Canton (now modern-day Guangzhou), near Hong Kong.

By the beginning of the 19th century, the issue of opium addiction in China worsened; exports of the drug reached all across the country, with the British being primarily responsible. Suggestions to provide leniency on the prohibitions were promptly denied due to the growing issues listed above, consequently resulting in the death penalty for opium smugglers in 1838.

In 1839, Chinese official Lin Zexu was assigned to alleviate the issue of opium smuggling, with the official famously seizing large amounts of opium from foreign ships and disposing of it in the sea. He was also responsible for the introduction of a system where traders would only be permitted access to China if they signed a bond stating that they did not possess illegal goods. The British Superintendent of Trade in China, Charles Elliot, gave orders for British merchants not to sign said bond.

Other events further heightened tensions between the two nations, such as the murder of Lin Weixi, a villager from Tsim Sha Tsui by British merchant sailors. Elliot denied a request from Lin Zexu to turn over the sailors to Chinese authorities, a clear sign of defiance. In retaliation to this, Lin put up a blockade against Macau, where the British were stationed then, leading to their movement to Hong Kong. Lin also sanctioned food-trade against the British. This would be where the tension would reach its bottleneck, resulting in the ensuing conflict.

The First Opium War began on the 4th of September, 1839, when Elliot issued an ultimatum which proclaimed that British food-trade sanctions were to be lifted with the local residents of Kowloon or British ships would open fire. The British were ultimately successful by the conclusion of the conflict in 1842, which led to the Treaty of Nanking.

The treaty’s terms led to the Hong Kong Island falling into British possession, allowed for free British trade with any merchants in China, and obligated the nation to pay for damages in destroyed opium. However, the British were not in full agreement with the treaty’s terms, demanding that it be renegotiated. Among other components that they wanted to alter, their main focus was the legalisation of the opium trade and the whole of China to be open to foreign trade.

The British disagreement in the terms resulted in the beginning of the Second Opium War, which ended in a consecutive British victory, and led to the Treaty of Tientsin, allowing the British to secure their control over the areas north of the Hong Kong Islands, that being Kowloon. The final expansion of British Hong Kong came about in 1898 in the form of the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory, a lease signed between Britain and China. The lease granted Britain control over the territories above Kowloon, now known as the New Territories, but this would conclude in the span of 99 years. Despite this, Britain was rather certain that this plot of land would remain in their possession.