>>/polru/54843@51041
Since the beginning of commercial relations between the UK and China, the trade balance has been tilted in favor of Chinese exports. While in Europe Chinese goods were considered exotic and a sign of chic, the policy of the emperors of the Qing dynasty was aimed at isolating the country from foreign influence.
In such conditions, European traders had almost no opportunity to sell their goods in China, only Russian furs and Italian glass were in demand. This forced Britain to pay for its ever-increasing purchases of Chinese goods with precious metals. In an attempt to restore balance, the British authorities sent trade delegations to the Chinese emperors, but negotiations were never successful. By the nineteenth century, however, a product that could interest China was found. It was about opium.
Despite the absolute illegality of the opium trade, it received the full support of the British government, whose goal of a positive trade balance with China was achieved in 1833.
It vaguely reminds me of the First Opium War