On my post below regarding...
You've left out the time element too... in the 1790s Macartney tried to open more trade with China which the Emperor rejected. So any question of "demanding payment in silver" is fiction. By the 1840s the British demand for silver cited above was hurting China economically, and in part a reason for the crack down on the illegal opium trade. So I was a bit surprised to see that you learned the Emperor gets blamed for British perfidy.
When the Emperor tried to shut down the criminal drug trade, the UK attacked, the first of the Opium Wars.
Here is a very nice video on Hong Kong, but it starts a bit late, in the 1840s, when foreigners first began setting up shop in Hong Kong 100 years earlier, with envy for the Portuguese who had the China tried sewn up in Macau. Hong Kong's genesis is in Scottish traders before the Opium Wars.
Feel free to forward this by email to three of your friends.
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Trade Deficit Decrease and You":There are a few elements missing in your question - waterborne opium inbound traffic and the same volume of tea export does indeed leave a tremendous deficit, a deficit usually financed in credit for which more goods and services were called forth. But the British demanded the deficit be settled in gold and silver for the simple reason the trade was criminal, and criminals want to settle up each deal. How often do drug dealers extend credit?
John, Don't wars get started over trade deficits, ever read about what happened to China when the British started liking Tea and the Chinese Emperor decided that they were only interested in Gold and Silver in payment ?
You've left out the time element too... in the 1790s Macartney tried to open more trade with China which the Emperor rejected. So any question of "demanding payment in silver" is fiction. By the 1840s the British demand for silver cited above was hurting China economically, and in part a reason for the crack down on the illegal opium trade. So I was a bit surprised to see that you learned the Emperor gets blamed for British perfidy.
When the Emperor tried to shut down the criminal drug trade, the UK attacked, the first of the Opium Wars.
Here is a very nice video on Hong Kong, but it starts a bit late, in the 1840s, when foreigners first began setting up shop in Hong Kong 100 years earlier, with envy for the Portuguese who had the China tried sewn up in Macau. Hong Kong's genesis is in Scottish traders before the Opium Wars.
Feel free to forward this by email to three of your friends.
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