[dragonwriter]

> That's why I think that attributing the drug flow to a Chinese government plan for Opium War revenge is ridiculous.

But that conclusion doesn't even approximately follow from the preceding narrative, which just as easily could be seen as lending credence to the hypothesis you use it to reject, since it provides a very clear explanation as to how both the ground was laid off such an effort to be successful and how the Chinese government would become aware of that opportunity.

(The “Opium War” revenge is probably needlessly romanticized, even if the Chinese government did deliberately act on the opportunity, the motivation (even if the Opium War was part of the inspiration) was probably more prosaic geopolitical advantage by weakening rivals with costly internal problems, not revenge.