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Colonialism and the Drug Trade in China


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Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images


Opium, the substance illicit drugs like heroin and morphine are extracted from, has been used by humans for over 3000 years. Its reputation has been ambiguous, to say the least, being regarded as everything from an herbal panacea to a ‘corruption of the devil’ over the millennia it has been in use. However, opium has never had a reputation as bad as it does in the 21st century, with all forms other than clinical and pharmaceutical use being outlawed. At the same time, opium use has never been more widespread as the illegal drug trade advances in tandem with modern technology. So, how did we reach this point and what does colonialism have to do with it?

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Credit: Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim


The Opium Wars:


The Opium Wars (1839-1860) are the oldest examples of strict government action against the drug trade. As international trade expanded throughout the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, mainly through colonial trade routes, the Chinese ‘Silk Road’ dominated the tea, silk, and porcelain industries. Within a few years of opening up trade with China, British demand for Chinese imports rose exponentially, leading policy-makers to become increasingly concerned about trade imbalances with Chinese markets. A trade imbalance is when import and export volumes are disproportionate in a given country, causing either a net inflow or outflow of money from that country. In this case, Britain’s trade imbalance with China, created by a high demand for Chinese imports to the country, would lead to a net outflow of money from Britain.

In an effort to counteract this, Britain became the chief exporter of opium to China by 1773. The British were well-aware of the destructively addictive properties of opium, using it to exploit Chinese consumers and weaken productivity in their main industries. This threatened the Chinese government and monarchy which noticed that the British had made long-term plans for opium exports through the expansion of opium cultivation to regions closer to China such as the North-East Indian Bengal region. Despite the Emperor’s multiple proclamations and edicts to curb opium imports, smugglers, aided by the British East-India Company, managed to dodge law enforcement and continue the flood of opium into the country. Between 1787 and 1833, the opium trade increased nearly eight-fold, rising from 4000 chests to over 30,000 chests (each chest weighing approximately 140 pounds or 63.5 kilograms) of opium exports to China within less than 50 years, allowing Britain to monopolize the opium trade in China. By then, the influence of opium had permeated even the warrior class and the highest noble classes of Imperial China which generally avoided intoxicating substances enjoyed by peasants.

The war began in 1839 when the emperor ordered High Commissioner Lin Zexu to end all opium imports. Commissioner Lin proceeded to pen a letter to British Queen Victoria, requesting an end to the trade of opium with China and a justification for the “poisoning” of the Chinese. The parts of the letter prove a key point in this essay: colonizers utilized illicit drugs to subdue nations they deemed too strong to defeat in combat.

“The purpose of your ships in coming to China is to realize a large profit. Since this profit is realized in China and is in fact taken away from the Chinese people, how can foreigners return injury for the benefit they have received by sending this poison to harm their benefactors?......
They may not intend to harm others on purpose, but the fact remains that they are so obsessed with material gain that they have no concern whatsoever for the harm they can cause to others. Have they no conscience? I have heard that you strictly prohibit opium in your own country, indicating unmistakably that you know how harmful opium is. You do not wish opium to harm your own country, but you choose to bring that harm to other countries such as China. Why?......
A murderer of one person is subject to the death sentence; just imagine how many people opium has killed! This is the rationale behind the new law which says that any foreigner who brings opium to China will be sentenced to death by hanging or beheading. Our purpose is to eliminate this poison once and for all and to the benefit of all mankind.”

Although Commissioner Lin wrote the letter, he proceeded to take action without sending it to London – ordering soldiers to confiscate all opium in Canton where foreign tradesmen and government officials processed and stored the imported product. Due to a rift in communications, British officials were late to respond, making arrangements only after surrendering their opium chests to the Chinese army which proceeded to destroy them at Humen shortly afterward. Consequently, British officials requested military forces from London to settle the dispute and, within months, combat commenced. Overpowered by Britain’s world-class Royal Navy, the Chinese surrendered in 1842 by signing the Treaty of Nanking which conceded the Chinese territory of Hong Kong and several other major ports to the British for perpetuity. The impact of this treaty is still felt in the 21st century as China continues to make efforts to regain Hong Kong.

The Second Opium War began in 1856 after a newly appointed Imperial Commissioner of Canton attacked Canton port – which had been ceded to the British under the Treaty of Nanking – and murdered and imprisoned several foreign tradesmen and officials, including those from Britain and France, prompting military intervention from both countries. Weakened by the ongoing civil war, the Taiping Rebellion, the Chinese surrendered once again. Thus, the Treaty of Tianjin was established, ceding several more Chinese ports to European powers and legalizing the opium trade in China.

Significance of the Opium Wars:


In 1986, in an interview with Lt. Col. James B. Gritz (Ret.), an official envoy of the White House, the Burmese drug lord Khun Sa' maintained:

“We must remember the opium trade is originally a creation of the west. The British fought major wars with Asian nations to ensure their monopoly on, and freedom to trade in opium.”

The significance of the Opium Wars lies in Britain’s insistence to use addictive substances to sabotage the economy and government of an entire nation it intended on colonizing. While similar tactics have been employed in other periods of history, such as the Roman Empire’s use of alcoholic wine in subduing the Gauls, the results have neither been as long-lasting nor as destructive as Britain’s coercion of opium use in China. In fact, even in the 21st century, China is one of the largest opiate markets in the world, sourcing from both Afghanistan and Myanmar, despite the criminalization of illicit drugs by its government. The country is also one of the largest producers of synthetic drugs which are seen as a larger threat due to their relatively low prices, stronger psychoactive effects, and ease of smuggling. Nevertheless, Imperial Chinese governance can also be commended for establishing some of the earliest anti-drug legislation that did not rely on religious or cultural influence. Their awareness of the implications of illicit drug use and contraband smuggling were akin to theses proposed as recently as the mid-20th century, showing the extent of wisdom and knowledge lost to colonial sabotage.


Edited by: Jazmine Noori

How Can You Help?


Support reparations efforts by countries that colonized vulnerable parts of the world in the past. Although the cost of human lives, lost ethnic culture and stolen resources can never be repaid, reparations can aid in alleviating the impacts of political and economic damage done in the past to bring about better conditions for future generations. Although countries like France and Germany have partaken in reparations schemes, colonial giants responsible for mass genocide and ethnic cleansing such as the United Kingdom and the United States have been hesitant to join in. Consequently, colonized countries that were victims of their abuses have held hostilities, resulting in multiple modern wars and massacres, including both World Wars, the rise of Communist dictatorships in third-world countries, and the Cold War. To bring about world peace, it is, thus, essential to compensate for colonial crimes.

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