[billyhoffman]

I think you have your dates wrong.

The Chinese, after repeated requests through diplomatic means and appealing directly to Queen Victoria, seized all the opium the foreign merchants were bringing into Canton, destroyed it, and then refused to compensate them. This lead to the British Navy interceding. This happened in 1839, 13 years before US Admiral Perry opened Japan with gunship diplomacy.

Don’t get me wrong, both of these actions are abhorrent. But mid 19th century Britain needed no guidebook on how to impose its will