What I understand of that history was - England wanted to trade with China, they wanted silk, porcelain, tea from China. Unfortunately, the Chinese needed nothing from Britain. They had everything they needed. Then the Brits stumbled upon Opium - a luxury used by the affluent in China, and was able to supply lots of it - cheaply. This found and unending market in China. Everyone, from rich landowners to poor rickshaw drivers wanted it!!! It was so lucrative, the Brits started opium fields and plantations in the provinces of Patna and Benares in India, so it could be "exported" to China. Its was so lucrative, others got onto the bandwagon, the Americans, Japanese, and local Chinese gangsters as well! This opium trade tipped the balance of silver in favour of the Brits, who found just the thing to finance their vast empire, and the biggest navy in the world (at that time). China was plaqued by internal struggles, internal revolts, collapsing Qing monarch, foreign invasions, too much to look after any single area. If not for the two world wars, China would have been ripped apart by the foreign invaders, and local warlords.
England (or Britain) was not an easy country to look after too! Internally, she had many roques and outlaws. But her military was good and intact, probably the best in the world at that time, which she used to her advantage. Under Queen Victoria, she was a conservative country, and introduced many repressive and authoritarian laws to her colonies (the anti-homosexual Penal Code was one of them). But they felt they were upholding the image and honour of Christianity - that was what probably kept them going.
After WW2, lots of social changes have taken place, the world is more humane now. And we have to move on with it. Everyone should. Humanity is no longer that innocent child of the past. With mass communications, the jet engine, internet, information flows around very quickly. So we have to move with it. Apologise? I think the aggressors of the last world war have signed surrender treaties and some of their military personnel have paid for their war crimes. Some have gotten away scot free (because of politics, eg; Emperor of Japan). What is illegal then my not be illegitimate today. We can consider China then to be under the Qing Dynasty, now its, under the CCCP, different government. So apologies to who? Also, if you were British, why should you apologise for a wrong your grandpa committed? Is that right? We have to just learn from the past and not repeat the same mistakes out ancestors made.
Cheers!
Bro, the Brit has had blatantly used opium to trade illegally in China.
1. They did not grow opium in their mother soil, England. They did it in India. They stay cleared of their own race to do this illegal trade and also forbid their own kind to smoke opium.
2. The Queen Victoria bitch endorsed it and provide funding for the trade. As such they are considered 老狗贼 criminal traders to trade in drug trafficking. The nation has to pay for their guilt and apologize to the world.
When you say moved on? Not till they apologize to China and India in total line sink and hooker.
The Qing may have internal conflict problem but not with an illegal trader drug trafficker at their door step to ruin their people and country further.
Fuck the Pommies bastards.
Fuck China they keep doing this drug trafficking trade targeting their own colony people mainly Chinese, again.
This bastard never want to end this illegal and unequal trade, even when they were governor of the colony, after WW2 end 20 years later. Then what's this born as British Subjects means to the Chinese? Another unequal treatment?
They have to explain and apologize to Singapore, Labuan and Straight Settlement mainly Chinese?
Don't side criminals, mate! 200 years of suffer from their illegal trade I China, and SEA, is some thing to bring up even today.
Fuck them man!
