I had it in mind today to write about the Opium Wars, which devastated China in the 19th Century. First Britain and then Britain and France overwhelmed China with superior military force compelling the Asian nation to sign unequal treaties. The Chinese called the era “the Century of Humiliation”. It is, by the bye, how Britain got control of Hong Kong, control that lasted 152 years. Britain and the US caused massive amounts of opium to be imported into China, creating social upheaval and economic disruption. Two of the people behind the scheme were Warren Delano, Jr, FDR’s grandfather, and Francis Blackwell Forbes, an American botanist and diplomat. But instead I decided to write about an even more momentous event.
© 2024 John Oliver
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