FIRST OPIUM WAR - 1839 AUGUST 23 HONGKONG PORT WAS CAPTURED BY THE BRITISH -THROUGH AUDACITY AND INJUSTICE
FIRST OPIUM WAR - 1839 AUGUST 23 HONGKONG PORT WAS CAPTURED BY THE BRITISH -THROUGH AUDACITY AND INJUSTICE August 23rd, 1839 – First Opium War: the UK captures Hong Kong as a base as it prepares for war with Qing China: Opium Wars arose from China’s attempts to suppress the opium trade. Foreign traders (primarily British) had been illegally exportingopium mainly from India to China since the 18th century, but that trade grew dramatically from about 1820. The resulting widespread addiction in China was causing serious social and economic disruption there. In March 1839 the Chinese government confiscated and destroyed more than 20,000 chests of opium—some 1,400 tons of the drug—that were warehoused at Canton (Guangzhou) by British merchants. The antagonism between the two sides increased a few days later when some drunken British sailors killed a Chinese villager. The British government, which did not wish its subjects to be tried i...