Much had been written about the Opium war, & the china born will always play the victim card. However, if one travelled back in the time, to the 18th century, one will realized it takes 2 to clap. With the Renaissance age, Humankind began discovering New Worlds, beyond their shores, & sought opportunities. China was a huge country, & cruelly ruled by the corrupted & decadent Qing dynasty then. It takes TWO to clap. Westerners wanted gold, & the Qing dynasty wanted the knowledge of the West to remain in power.
Overtime, the moronic Qing dynasty rulers realized the exchange was not fair, & stop such exchanges. Unfortunately, the citizens of the Qing dynasty were hooked on Opium, which they had LONG been addicted to, even far back centuries ago, long before even Westerners arrived. Being opportunist, the West were only following free market rules - supply & demand, & thus Opium for Gold trade. The brutal Qing dynasty had done NOTHING to stop their serfs from consuming opium, even the rulers themselves were hooked on it.
Ultimately, who is to be blamed? However, it is already in the past. We cant change the past, but we can still change the future. China is NO longer ruled by the evil Qing dynasty which even majority of china born whom are Hans, hated with lasting memories, toppled them led by the great democratic Sun Yet Shin, & the West today had long abandoned & even banned the drug trade.