The Opium Wars (鸦片战争) and the opium trade represent one of the most traumatic periods in modern Chinese history — a time when foreign powers used drug addiction as a tool of imperial domination.
The Rise of the Opium Trade
British merchants, unable to balance trade with China through legitimate goods, began smuggling opium from India into China in the early 19th century. By 1838, an estimated 12 million Chinese were addicted to opium.
The Opium Wars
When the Qing government attempted to suppress the opium trade, Britain fought two wars (1840-1842, 1856-1860) — defeating China and forcing open ports at gunpoint. The Treaty of Nanking (1842) ceded Hong Kong to Britain.
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