William de Berg In the middle of the 19th-Century, Great Britain and its East India Tea Company had a major problem: Exports from China (silk, porcelain, tea, etc.) were worth much more than the imports to the Middle Kingdom (mainly precious metals). So, the British created an import market by selling opium to the Chinese masses, whose growing addictions alarmed the Chinese emperors. Issuing edicts and burning warehouses didn’t sit well with the British, who along with the French ended up sending their navies upriver to capture the capital cities…
