[转帖]卡尔马克思为英国发动鸦片战争作的辩护（附英文原文）
马克思, 英国, 卡尔, 鸦片战争, 印度卡尔 马克思 英国 鸦片战争 原文
http://bbs.cqzg.cn/thread-113869-1-3.html
卡尔马克思，他度过他的大部分成年生活在英国的伦敦
马克思对於英国的“全球化”辩护者的角色是清楚的在他为了大英帝国对印度掠夺
的辩护。马克思提出了一项马基维利主义者的辩论，那样，因为“资本主义”是优
于“东方的专制政治”，甚至虽然由英国殖民主义制成的行动和意图是邪恶的，英
国的殖民主义使印度受益！
甚至是更为清楚的是马克思对於英国的第一次鸦片战争辩护。在许多关于世界革命
可能性的虚张声势当中，马克思赞美鸦片战争因为把中国投掷进入大混乱的状态。
他声称英国是推进在中国的文明，通过消灭中国的古老文化，和打开中国门户给国
际性经济。他甚至称许地报导，那英国的政策是造成在中国这样的失业人口，那样
转移中国工作者被利用的在全世界像奴隶劳工。卡尔马克思撰写在１８５３七月２
２在纽约每日论坛报里的一篇文章：
“无论什么样他们可能认为的社会原因，和无论什么样的宗教性的，王朝的，或是
国家的形式，那样有导致在中国慢性反抗的存在在大约过去的十年，和现在聚集一
起在一次强大的变革里，那对於这次暴动的诱因有被无疑地通过英国强迫在中国的
大炮所提供的那称为鸦片的催眠毒品。在英国武器前面那满清王朝的权威倒下成为
碎片；对天朝的永恒迷信的信仰破碎了；那野蛮和密封的与文明世界的隔绝是破坏
的；和一项开放是创造的为了那样的交流它有自从受到加州和澳大利亚的黄金吸引
力的因此迅速进行的。在那同时在帝国的银硬币，它的生命－元气，开始耗尽到英
国的东印度。”
那支配英国种族主义的反映，在哪里大多数人口狂热地支持第一次鸦片战争（在哪
里有流行对第二次鸦片战争的示威）马克思为英国－强迫对中国的耽溺：
。。。它会看来好像仿佛历史有首先去使这个全部人民喝醉般地在它可能把他们从
他们的世袭愚蠢中唤醒。“
马克思甚至辩论那中国人有一种对鸦片爱好的倾向：
。。。那中国人，它是真实地，是不比德国人发誓抛弃烟草更可能地去放弃对鸦片
的使用。”
Henry Carey Refutes the British System
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnThe devastating flaw in Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and all who claimed the British
Empire was advancing more backward civilizations, was identified by Henry
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnCarey: The British System is not capitalism. Rather, the British Empire,
and its effects, can be best described by comparing them, to the oligarchy
of the ancient Roman Empire, and the destruction which they wrought on the
world. Carey presented a devastating expose of the British Empire in his
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn1853 book, The Slave Trade, Domestic & Foreign, Why it Exists & and How
it May be Extinguished. He demonstrated that the British system violated
the requirements for successful human survival, and, that opium production 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
was a lawful result of the destructive nature of the British System.
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
Carey described how the Roman system was based on centralizing the power
of governing and taxing. He showed how this led, lawfully, to exhaustion
and collapse, resulting in a severe drop in population:
``Still onward the city grows, absorbing the wealth of the world, and with
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnit grow the poverty, slavery, and rapacity of the people, the exhaustion
of provinces, and the avarice and tyranny of rulers and magistrates, until
at length the empire, rotten at the heart, becomes the prey of barbarians,
and all become slaves alike,--thus furnishing proof conclusive that the
community which desires to command respect for its own rights must practice
respect for those of others; which lies at the base of all Christianity--'Do 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
unto others as ye would that they should do unto you.'|'' 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
Carey next showed that, while the British Empire strongly resembled these
features of the Roman Empire, it was even more destructive, because it had
also added commercial centralization. England was committed to enforcing
a monopolistic control over the world economy, centralizing industry in
England, and reducing the rest of the world to the production of raw materials,
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnwhich were sold at prices dictated by England.
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn``England, on the contrary, has sought to restrict her subjects and the
people of the world in their modes of employment; and this she has done
with a view to compel them to make all their exchanges in her single market,
leaving to her to fix the prices of all she bought and all she sold, thus
taxing them at her discretion in both time and money.''
Benjamin Franklin had attacked this British policy 100 years earlier, and,
correctly argued that the development of American manufactures, would improve
the productivity of the British dominions, as a whole, and enrich both the
Colonies and England. However, the Venetian oligarchy, firmly in control
of England, was not interested in enriching nations, but rather, in consolidating
and spreading their oligarchical system. So, Franklin recognized that a
break with Venetian-controlled England was necessary.
Carey demonstrated, in graphic detail, that the British Empire's system
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnof ``globalization'' had devastating effects on India. Prior to the takeover
of India by the East India Company, the Indian economy was characterized 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
by the existence of native manufacture of cloth and other goods, which made
possible a division of labor, and a higher level of productivity for the
economy as a whole. The British demanded one-half of the gross product of
the land, as tribute from the areas that they controlled, and imposed a
tax collection system which severely disrupted the economy.
Even more deadly, the British imposed a policy of technological apartheid,
banning the export of machinery, from England to India, and refusing to
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cndevelop India's rich iron and coal deposits. Taxes were imposed to deliberately
suppress native manufacturing.
Carey stated:
``The Hindoo, like the negro, is shut out from the workshop. If he attempts 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
to convert his cotton into yarn, his spindle is taxed in nearly all of the
profit it can yield him. If he attempts to make cloth, his loom is subjected
to a heavy tax, from which that of his wealthy English competitor is exempt.
His iron ore and his coal must remain in the ground, and if he dares to
apply his labour even to the collection of the salt which crystallizes before
his door, he is punished by fine and imprisonment.''
The introduction of steam driven machinery, was used by the British to devastate
India's native cloth manufacturers, rather than to revolutionize Indian
production. Although the steam engine had been developed by Benjamin Franklin'
s collaborators, who intended that it be used to improve the productivity 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
of labor, the British applied it to their slave labor system, filling the
factories with workers, including children, who worked 15 to 17 hours a
day.
Free Trade Destroys Indian Cloth Manufacturing
Carey describes how in 1813, British ``free trade'' removed tariffs on cloth
imported into India, ``but with the restriction on the export of machinery
and artisans maintained in full force.'' Within twenty years, Indian cloth
manufacturing was completely wiped out. The result was not merely mass unemployment
and starvation of cloth manufacturers, but the impoverishment of cotton
cultivators, since cotton now had to be shipped all the way to England,
and the British now had a monopoly control of cotton consumption. 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnHenry Carey demonstrated that this British looting had the effect of reducing
the ability of India to support its population.
Carey also understood that the destructive nature of the British system
contained an inherent tendency toward bankruptcy, requiring it to constantly
find new sources of loot. The conquest of Bengal led to an initial surge
in tax revenues. However, by 1815, the Company was 40 million pounds sterling
in debt. The Company's 150,000-strong army was consuming three-quarters
of its annual budget. The looting of India had so severely damaged the Indian
economy that taxes and revenues were declining. The Company's major source 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
of revenue was its China trade: tea paid for by opium.
As Carey stated:
``Calcutta grows, the city of palaces, but poverty and wretchedness grow
as the people of India find themselves more and more compelled to resort
to that city to make their exchanges.... Now, every man must send his cotton
to Calcutta, thence to go to England with the rice and the indigo of his
neighbours, before he and they can exchange food for cloth or cotton--and
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnthe larger the quantity they send the greater is the tendency to decline 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
in price. With every extension of the system there is increasing inability 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
to pay the taxes, and increasing necessity for seeking new markets in which 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
to sell cloth and collect what are called rents--and the more wide the extension
of the system the greater is the difficulty of collecting revenue sufficient 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
for keeping the machine of government in motion. This difficulty it was
that drove the representatives of British power and civilization into become
traders in that pernicious drug, opium.''春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnThe British East India Company's Opium Monopoly
The East India Company established a monopoly over the production of opium,
shortly after taking over Bengal. Before each growing season, Company officers
went through the villages contracting with the peasants on how much acreage
to plant, and making loans to cover costs. Indian peasants sold the opium
juice to the Company, whence it was taken to the factory. The opium juice
was processed into a form suitable for smoking, and formed into three pound
cakes, which were then wrapped in poppy pedals. Forty of these cakes were
loaded into chests, each stamped with the symbol of the East India Company.
In a completely transparent fraud of ``free trade,'' the Company then auctioned
off these chests to ``country traders,'' (whom it pretended were independent)
, at roughly four times the cost of production. These traders were licensed
by the Company, and in some cases financed by it. The Company would even
give the ``country traders'' opium on consignment, and collect payment in
Canton (Guangzhou) after the opium had been sold.
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnThe great nation of China, which had cities of 1 million inhabitants, while 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
the largest European city had only a population of 100,000, represented
an enticing target. China's population of 300 million was some 20 times
that of England. The British Navy had complete superiority over the antiquated
Chinese navy. However, occupying and garrisoning China was impossible.
What the British Will Never Forget
Were you to read the British press today, you would learn that the British
Empire never forgets its defeats. Along with the defeat by Sudan of General
Charles ``Chinese'' Gordon, killed in Khartoum in 1885, one of the nastiest
setbacks ever suffered by the British, was the dismissal of their envoy,
Lord Macartney by the Chinese Emperor in 1794. Hoping to ``beat'' the Russians
and others to the China market, the British sent Macartney, with a large
entourage, and ships full of trinkets, to attempt to entice the Emperor
into opening China to British trade. But the Emperor decided, rightly, that
the British had nothing to offer him, nor China, and, after ordering Macartney
to ``tremblingly obey,'' sent him packing.
The British would follow the earlier example of the Dutch, who pacified
Indonesia with opium: the Dutch East India Company began shipping opium 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
to Java in 1659, and by the middle of the next century, 100 tons were arriving
every year, in the city of Batavia, alone. The opium addicts and the corrupt
officials who collected bribes to allow smuggling, effectively became allies
with the British in subverting China. Opium had a devastating effect on
the Chinese military, and on the Chinese intelligensia.
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
Although the Chinese had used opium as a medicine, there was no widespread
addiction before the British arrived. The Portuguese had smuggled some opium
to China. The first major shipment of opium, was arranged in 1781, by the
Company's Governor-General, Warren Hastings, who described opium as a ``pernicious'春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
' commodity, ``which the wisdom of the Government should carefully restrain
from internal consumption.'' It was a financial disaster. The opium was
brought to Canton, the only city where the Chinese allowed foreigners to
trade. The Chinese showed little interest, so the ship left without selling
its opium. The Company lost a quarter-of-a-million dollars.
However, steady British smuggling paid off. By 1804, the revenues from opium
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnsales to China, were sufficient to cover the cost of tea, imported from
China. Between 1804 and 1806, $7 million were transferred out of China.
Until 1820, the Company practiced a policy of limiting opium shipments to
less than 5,000 chests, sufficient to gain substantial loot, but calculated 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
so as not to provoke a response from the Chinese.
However, the bankruptcy of the East India Company, and a strategy of more 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
intensive looting of India, required a new, more destructive policy for
China as well. In 1817, the British launched their ``free trade'' offensive
against India, flooding it with English cloth, while blocking the development
of Indian cloth manufacture. The British required increased sales of opium
to pay for the shipments of cloth into India. The Company shifted to a policy
of maximizing opium smuggling (and addiction, as well).
The Company even defended its policy, claiming that it was necessary to
stop competition from other opium smugglers, declaring in 1819, that its
policy was ``to endeavour to secure the command of the Market by furnishing
a Supply on so enlarged a scale and on such reasonable terms as shall prevent
competition.''
The Chinese made a limited effort to stop opium smuggling in 1821. The British
responded by moving the base of their opium-smuggling operations out of
Canton, to the small island of Lintin inside Canton Bay, where the Chinese
navy could not threaten it. The smugglers' ships each carried about ten
cannon, and were more powerful than any fleet which the Chinese Emperor
could deploy against them. The trading companies anchored old ships off
Lintin Island, which stored the opium until small ships smuggled it ashore.
The opium trade increased from 4,244 chests in the 1820-21 season to 18,956
by 1830-31. By 1831, the opium trade into China was two-and-a-half times
greater than the tea trade. It was probably the largest trade in a single
commodity anywhere in the world.
William Jardine: "Iron-Headed Old Rat"
The largest of the ``country traders'' was Jardine, Matheson & Co. William
Jardine and James Matheson formed a partnership in 1828. Matheson was the
first to see the potential of smuggling along the entire Chinese coast.
Matheson blamed the Chinese dislike for ``free trade'' to their ``marvellous
degree of imbecility and avarice, conceit and obstinacy.'' Jardine was nicknamed
``Iron-Headed Old Rat'' by the Chinese. He advocated making Formosa an offshore 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
base for the Western powers. He was also one of the most vocal advocates
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnfor war, stating:
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn``Obtain us but a sale for our goods, and we will supply any quantity....
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnNor indeed should our valuable commerce and revenue both in India and Great
Britain be permitted to remain subject to a caprice which a few gunboats
laid alongside this city would overrule by the discharge of a few mortars....
The results of a war with China could not be doubted.''
Both returned to England, and became members of Parliament. Matheson used
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnhis opium fortune to become the second largest landholder in Great Britain,
and was made a Baron by Queen Victoria. 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
One obstacle to war, was Sir George Robinson, the British Superintendent
of Trade in Canton. He applied to England for orders, which would authorize
him to stop British opium smuggling, which, of course, he never received.
He suggested, in February 1836, that ``a more certain method would be to
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnprohibit the growth of the poppy and manufacture of opium in British India.''
He was fired by Palmerston, then British Foreign Secretary, for this.
Robinson's replacement was Captain Charles Elliot of the Royal Navy, who
had been spying all along on Robinson for Palmerston. Elliot had previously
been involved in designing the plan for ``freeing'' the slaves throughout
the British Empire, which Henry Carey exposed, as being carried out in such
a way, as to have what he termed ``disastrous consequences.'' In Jamaica,
following an ``emancipation'' of the slaves, the effect was to drive down
wages and living standards for both the former slaves, and imported Indian
laborers.
By the late 1830's, there was no doubt that opium was leading to the destruction
of China. By 1836, opium shipments were more than 30,000 chests, enough
to supply 12.5 million smokers. The Chinese imperial army lost a battle
against local rebels because the army was addicted to opium. The financial
drain on China was disrupting the entire economy. From 1829 to 1840, Chinese
exports had brought in 7 million silver dollars, but imports, mainly opium
had drained 56 million. The loss of silver was disrupting the internal economy
leading to increased unrest.
Lin Zexu, appointed by the Emperor to stop the opium traffic, stated:.
``a few decades from now we shall not only be without soldiers to resist
the enemy, but also in want of silver to provide an army.''
The Chinese launched a ruthless campaign in 1838 to wipe out opium consumption,
which, the British complained bitterly, was having an affect. Thousands 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
of Chinese opium merchants were arrested. ``We have never seen so serious
a persecution, or one so general,'' protested William Jardine. By January
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn1840, Captain Elliot informed London that, ``the stagnation of the opium
traffic ... may be said to have been nearly complete for the last four months.
''
Lin Zexu was appointed by the Chinese Emperor, High Commissioner to investigate
port affairs, on December 31, 1839. He deployed sufficient military force
to drive the opium traffickers from Lintin Island. They redeployed to a
barren island further out, named Hongkong. Lin Zexu also demanded that the
British smugglers hand over their stockpiles of opium, and sign a bond pledging
not to smuggle more opium under penalty of death.
Lin sent a letter to Queen Victoria appealing to her to stop the opium traffic.
He told Queen Victoria:
``this poisonous article is manufactured by certain devilish persons in
places subject to your rule.... What is here forbidden to consume, your
dependencies must be forbidden to manufacture.''
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Lin stated that he believed that opium was banned in England. In fact, opium
was freely supplied to the poor in England, who were working under slave 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
labor conditions, similar to those the British had imposed throughout the
rest of their Empire.
The behavior Captain Charles Elliot was accurately described by James Matheson:
``To a close observer, it would seem as if the whole of Elliot's career
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnwere expressly designed to lead on the Chinese to commit themselves, and
produce a collision... I suppose war with China will be the next step.''
Creating a Pretext for War
Elliot sought to establish a pretext for war other than the defense of opium,
arguing that the issue was the Chinese demand that British merchants be
subject to ``barbaric'' Chinese law. He instructed British merchants to
hand over their, in fact, unsalable opium stockpiles, with the promise that
the British government would reimburse them for their loss. In perhaps the
biggest drug-bust in history, Lin destroyed 20,283 chests, or 2.5 million
pounds seized from British smugglers.
Elliot then deployed the British forces at hand to create a series of incidents
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnwith the Chinese, which could be used to rally support back in England for
the planned war. 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
While Matheson continued the company's smuggling operations from the new
base at Hongkong, Jardine was sent to London, as the representative of all
the opium smugglers, to rally support for war. The propaganda he spread
in London, was that honest British merchants were being besieged, imprisoned,
deprived of food, and actually threatened with death. He rallied British
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cncotton merchants that war was necessary to ``open China'' to imports of 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
British cloth.
Matheson met with Palmerston to plan strategy and supply information, obtained
through his smuggling operations, on Chinese geography, which was crucial
for British military operations.
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
The British sent a fleet of 16 men-of-war, four armed steam ships, and transport
ships carrying 4,000 Scottish, Irish and Indian troops, which arrived in 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
June of 1840. The Chinese were totally unprepared. The Imperial army was
really only a police force, designed to put down internal revolts. Although
the Chinese had invented gunpowder, their artillery was little more effective
than fireworks. Their guns were mounted solidly in their forts or ships 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
and could not be aimed. Although they desperately tried to innovate, during
the wars which followed, the Chinese lacked the science, or the industrial
base necessary to match a British military, well-schooled in slaughtering
defenseless populations.
The British carried out a series of attacks on Chinese cities using the
fleet to destroy obsolete Chinese fortifications, and then threaten the
cities with destruction unless they paid ransom. The British moved cannon
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnto the edge of Canton, and forced the city to pay a ransom of $6 million.
Shanghai paid $300,000, ransom but was still severely looted. 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
Typical was the capture of the Island of Chou-shan and its capital, Tin-hai.
The British used broadsides from the fleet to demolish the fleet of 11 war 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
junks and an obsolete shore battery. The Chinese militia of 1,600 fled the
bombardment. British troops were landed unopposed on the beach, which was
scattered with dead bodies, bows and arrows, spears, and obsolete matchlock
rifles. The Madras Artillery mounted four cannon on a hill, and began shelling
the defenseless town, forcing the residents to flee. Soon, the soldiers
discovered that the town was stocked with rice wine. Drunken soldiers and
sailors pillaged the burning town until there was nothing left to steal or
destroy.
The British sent a fleet up the Yangtze River to cut the Grand Canal and
attack Nanking. All of Beijing's food supply was brought by boat up the
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnGrand Canal. The force, now numbering around 12,000, sailed up the river,
attacking cities along the way, or forcing them to buy immunity. When the
British force arrived in Nanking, the Chinese Emperor sued for peace.
By this time, Captain Elliot had been replaced by Sir Henry Pottinger. Elliot
had been denounced for being too soft on the Chinese, because he had been
willing to settle the war for only $6 million as compensation for the destroyed
opium, and possession of Hongkong. His liberal reputation still intact,
he was sent to his next assignment, as the British representative to the
newly independent Republic of Texas.
Lord Palmerston had given Sir Henry Pottinger precise written instructions
about opium. He was ``strongly to impress upon the Chinese plenipotentiaries
... how much it would be to the interest of that Government to legalize
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnthe trade.''
The Chinese refused to even discuss the legalization of opium. The Emperor
responded: ``Gain-seeking and corrupt men will for profit and sensuality
defeat my wishes, but nothing will induce me to derive a revenue from the
vice and misery of my people.''
In the Treaty of Nanking, signed on August 29, 1842, China agreed to pay
an indemnity of $21 million and cede Hongkong to Britain. The ports of Canton,
Shanghai, Ningpo, Amoy and Fuzhou were declared open for trade, and Chinese
tariffs were limited to 5%. Foreigners in these ``treaty ports'' were not
subject to Chinese laws. Finally, British warships could anchor in the ``treaty
ports'' and could enter any Chinese port ``when the interests of trade demanded.
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn'' The Chinese were quickly forced to sign similar treaties with France
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnand the United States.
In the period following the first Opium War, Hongkong was avoided by tea
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnor silk traders, and instead served as a center for opium smuggling, gambling,
prostitution and piracy. The Governor of Hongkong reported that ``almost
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnevery person possessed of capital who is not connected with government employ
is employed in the opium trade.''
Hongshang: Central Bank for the Opium Trade
The Hongkong economy has continued to be dominated by opium money, as it
developed into a model for the success of British ``free enterprise'' methods.
The Hongkong and Shanghai Bank (``Hongshang''), the closest thing to a
Central Bank that exists in the ``free enterprise'' Hongkong economy, was 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
founded with opium money.
The first Opium War was followed by a second in 1856-60. The British were 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
joined by the French as junior partners, the French having appointed themselves 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
the ``protectors'' of China's Catholics. The combined British and French
forces looted and destroyed the Emperor's Summer Palace.
In the treaty ending the second Opium War, the Chinese were forced to accept
the legalization of opium. With Chinese resistance broken, large scale opium
production in China was begun, supposedly to stop the drain on silver caused
by opium imports. Both imports and domestic production soared, with imports
reaching 105,508 chests by 1880. It is conservatively estimated, that China's
opium-addicts numbered between 30 and 40 million, at that time.
Parallel to this, the British gained a stranglehold on the Chinese economy
and government finances. In 1853, the British were able to grab control
of Chinese Customs in Shanghai, because of the Taiping revolt. Twenty years
later, all Chinese customs were managed by the British, with all Customs
Houses of China within reach of British shells. For 40 years after 1860,
Britain dominated China's commerce. By 1895, China's trade with Britain's
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnrepresented two-thirds of all China trade, which then totalled 53.2 million
pounds sterling.
Opium remained at the head of the list, averaging 10 million pounds sterling
a year during the 1880's. By 1900, a great part of government revenues went
to pay indemnities, imposed on China by various ``peace'' treaties.
Opium went hand-in-hand with foreign conquest and revolution. China was
rapidly broken apart by the centrifugal forces introduced by the effects
of British looting. From 1850 to 1860, China was racked by revolts by the
Taiping and Triad gangs. Deaths from the chaos are estimated to have been
several tens of millions. Many provinces lost more than half their population.
By 1916, China was so shattered, that when nationalists around Sun Yat-sen
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnattempted to set up a Republic, the greatest problem was to unite the country.
China had been broken apart by competing war lords, a condition similar
to India just prior to the British conquest.
Throughout the early 20th century, Japan, which was the British Empire's
key ally in Asia, launched repeated attacks on China. The Japanese used
British methods, including the bombing of civilians in Shanghai in 1932,
and the use of dope. The Japanese ran huge amounts of drugs, including heroin,
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cninto occupied Manchuria, and by 1944, opium addicts there were estimated
around 13 million, or one-third of the population.
This was the heritage of Hongkong.
With the British lease on the ``New Territories'' part of the Colony running 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
out, in the early 1980s, Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping demanded the return
of the entire colony, including Hongkong island, which had been ceeded ``in
perpetuity,'' on the basis of China's national sovereignty. The British
had little to stand on, and were forced to come to an agreement.
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
Afterword
In the intervening years, the policy of the Chinese government has been
to integrate Hongkong--one of the two largest container ports in the world--into 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
the Chinese economy. The new Beijing-Kowloon railroad has just been opened,
linking Hongkong with central and north China, and enabling Hongkong's port
to play an urgently needed role in opening and developing the Chinese economy.
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
In May 1996, Helga Zepp-LaRouche presented LaRouche's concept of using the
Eurasian Land-Bridge as the basis for global economic reconstruction to
a government-sponsored Symposium on the Land-Bridge in Beijing.
It is through this economic reconstruction, that the drug-running, looting
policies of the British empire, will finally be defeated.
马克思, 英国, 卡尔, 鸦片战争, 印度卡尔 马克思 英国 鸦片战争 原文
http://bbs.cqzg.cn/thread-113869-1-3.html
卡尔马克思，他度过他的大部分成年生活在英国的伦敦
马克思对於英国的“全球化”辩护者的角色是清楚的在他为了大英帝国对印度掠夺
的辩护。马克思提出了一项马基维利主义者的辩论，那样，因为“资本主义”是优
于“东方的专制政治”，甚至虽然由英国殖民主义制成的行动和意图是邪恶的，英
国的殖民主义使印度受益！
甚至是更为清楚的是马克思对於英国的第一次鸦片战争辩护。在许多关于世界革命
可能性的虚张声势当中，马克思赞美鸦片战争因为把中国投掷进入大混乱的状态。
他声称英国是推进在中国的文明，通过消灭中国的古老文化，和打开中国门户给国
际性经济。他甚至称许地报导，那英国的政策是造成在中国这样的失业人口，那样
转移中国工作者被利用的在全世界像奴隶劳工。卡尔马克思撰写在１８５３七月２
２在纽约每日论坛报里的一篇文章：
“无论什么样他们可能认为的社会原因，和无论什么样的宗教性的，王朝的，或是
国家的形式，那样有导致在中国慢性反抗的存在在大约过去的十年，和现在聚集一
起在一次强大的变革里，那对於这次暴动的诱因有被无疑地通过英国强迫在中国的
大炮所提供的那称为鸦片的催眠毒品。在英国武器前面那满清王朝的权威倒下成为
碎片；对天朝的永恒迷信的信仰破碎了；那野蛮和密封的与文明世界的隔绝是破坏
的；和一项开放是创造的为了那样的交流它有自从受到加州和澳大利亚的黄金吸引
力的因此迅速进行的。在那同时在帝国的银硬币，它的生命－元气，开始耗尽到英
国的东印度。”
那支配英国种族主义的反映，在哪里大多数人口狂热地支持第一次鸦片战争（在哪
里有流行对第二次鸦片战争的示威）马克思为英国－强迫对中国的耽溺：
。。。它会看来好像仿佛历史有首先去使这个全部人民喝醉般地在它可能把他们从
他们的世袭愚蠢中唤醒。“
马克思甚至辩论那中国人有一种对鸦片爱好的倾向：
。。。那中国人，它是真实地，是不比德国人发誓抛弃烟草更可能地去放弃对鸦片
的使用。”
Henry Carey Refutes the British System
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnThe devastating flaw in Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and all who claimed the British
Empire was advancing more backward civilizations, was identified by Henry
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnCarey: The British System is not capitalism. Rather, the British Empire,
and its effects, can be best described by comparing them, to the oligarchy
of the ancient Roman Empire, and the destruction which they wrought on the
world. Carey presented a devastating expose of the British Empire in his
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn1853 book, The Slave Trade, Domestic & Foreign, Why it Exists & and How
it May be Extinguished. He demonstrated that the British system violated
the requirements for successful human survival, and, that opium production 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
was a lawful result of the destructive nature of the British System.
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
Carey described how the Roman system was based on centralizing the power
of governing and taxing. He showed how this led, lawfully, to exhaustion
and collapse, resulting in a severe drop in population:
``Still onward the city grows, absorbing the wealth of the world, and with
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnit grow the poverty, slavery, and rapacity of the people, the exhaustion
of provinces, and the avarice and tyranny of rulers and magistrates, until
at length the empire, rotten at the heart, becomes the prey of barbarians,
and all become slaves alike,--thus furnishing proof conclusive that the
community which desires to command respect for its own rights must practice
respect for those of others; which lies at the base of all Christianity--'Do 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
unto others as ye would that they should do unto you.'|'' 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
Carey next showed that, while the British Empire strongly resembled these
features of the Roman Empire, it was even more destructive, because it had
also added commercial centralization. England was committed to enforcing
a monopolistic control over the world economy, centralizing industry in
England, and reducing the rest of the world to the production of raw materials,
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnwhich were sold at prices dictated by England.
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn``England, on the contrary, has sought to restrict her subjects and the
people of the world in their modes of employment; and this she has done
with a view to compel them to make all their exchanges in her single market,
leaving to her to fix the prices of all she bought and all she sold, thus
taxing them at her discretion in both time and money.''
Benjamin Franklin had attacked this British policy 100 years earlier, and,
correctly argued that the development of American manufactures, would improve
the productivity of the British dominions, as a whole, and enrich both the
Colonies and England. However, the Venetian oligarchy, firmly in control
of England, was not interested in enriching nations, but rather, in consolidating
and spreading their oligarchical system. So, Franklin recognized that a
break with Venetian-controlled England was necessary.
Carey demonstrated, in graphic detail, that the British Empire's system
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnof ``globalization'' had devastating effects on India. Prior to the takeover
of India by the East India Company, the Indian economy was characterized 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
by the existence of native manufacture of cloth and other goods, which made
possible a division of labor, and a higher level of productivity for the
economy as a whole. The British demanded one-half of the gross product of
the land, as tribute from the areas that they controlled, and imposed a
tax collection system which severely disrupted the economy.
Even more deadly, the British imposed a policy of technological apartheid,
banning the export of machinery, from England to India, and refusing to
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cndevelop India's rich iron and coal deposits. Taxes were imposed to deliberately
suppress native manufacturing.
Carey stated:
``The Hindoo, like the negro, is shut out from the workshop. If he attempts 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
to convert his cotton into yarn, his spindle is taxed in nearly all of the
profit it can yield him. If he attempts to make cloth, his loom is subjected
to a heavy tax, from which that of his wealthy English competitor is exempt.
His iron ore and his coal must remain in the ground, and if he dares to
apply his labour even to the collection of the salt which crystallizes before
his door, he is punished by fine and imprisonment.''
The introduction of steam driven machinery, was used by the British to devastate
India's native cloth manufacturers, rather than to revolutionize Indian
production. Although the steam engine had been developed by Benjamin Franklin'
s collaborators, who intended that it be used to improve the productivity 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
of labor, the British applied it to their slave labor system, filling the
factories with workers, including children, who worked 15 to 17 hours a
day.
Free Trade Destroys Indian Cloth Manufacturing
Carey describes how in 1813, British ``free trade'' removed tariffs on cloth
imported into India, ``but with the restriction on the export of machinery
and artisans maintained in full force.'' Within twenty years, Indian cloth
manufacturing was completely wiped out. The result was not merely mass unemployment
and starvation of cloth manufacturers, but the impoverishment of cotton
cultivators, since cotton now had to be shipped all the way to England,
and the British now had a monopoly control of cotton consumption. 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnHenry Carey demonstrated that this British looting had the effect of reducing
the ability of India to support its population.
Carey also understood that the destructive nature of the British system
contained an inherent tendency toward bankruptcy, requiring it to constantly
find new sources of loot. The conquest of Bengal led to an initial surge
in tax revenues. However, by 1815, the Company was 40 million pounds sterling
in debt. The Company's 150,000-strong army was consuming three-quarters
of its annual budget. The looting of India had so severely damaged the Indian
economy that taxes and revenues were declining. The Company's major source 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
of revenue was its China trade: tea paid for by opium.
As Carey stated:
``Calcutta grows, the city of palaces, but poverty and wretchedness grow
as the people of India find themselves more and more compelled to resort
to that city to make their exchanges.... Now, every man must send his cotton
to Calcutta, thence to go to England with the rice and the indigo of his
neighbours, before he and they can exchange food for cloth or cotton--and
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnthe larger the quantity they send the greater is the tendency to decline 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
in price. With every extension of the system there is increasing inability 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
to pay the taxes, and increasing necessity for seeking new markets in which 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
to sell cloth and collect what are called rents--and the more wide the extension
of the system the greater is the difficulty of collecting revenue sufficient 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
for keeping the machine of government in motion. This difficulty it was
that drove the representatives of British power and civilization into become
traders in that pernicious drug, opium.''春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnThe British East India Company's Opium Monopoly
The East India Company established a monopoly over the production of opium,
shortly after taking over Bengal. Before each growing season, Company officers
went through the villages contracting with the peasants on how much acreage
to plant, and making loans to cover costs. Indian peasants sold the opium
juice to the Company, whence it was taken to the factory. The opium juice
was processed into a form suitable for smoking, and formed into three pound
cakes, which were then wrapped in poppy pedals. Forty of these cakes were
loaded into chests, each stamped with the symbol of the East India Company.
In a completely transparent fraud of ``free trade,'' the Company then auctioned
off these chests to ``country traders,'' (whom it pretended were independent)
, at roughly four times the cost of production. These traders were licensed
by the Company, and in some cases financed by it. The Company would even
give the ``country traders'' opium on consignment, and collect payment in
Canton (Guangzhou) after the opium had been sold.
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnThe great nation of China, which had cities of 1 million inhabitants, while 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
the largest European city had only a population of 100,000, represented
an enticing target. China's population of 300 million was some 20 times
that of England. The British Navy had complete superiority over the antiquated
Chinese navy. However, occupying and garrisoning China was impossible.
What the British Will Never Forget
Were you to read the British press today, you would learn that the British
Empire never forgets its defeats. Along with the defeat by Sudan of General
Charles ``Chinese'' Gordon, killed in Khartoum in 1885, one of the nastiest
setbacks ever suffered by the British, was the dismissal of their envoy,
Lord Macartney by the Chinese Emperor in 1794. Hoping to ``beat'' the Russians
and others to the China market, the British sent Macartney, with a large
entourage, and ships full of trinkets, to attempt to entice the Emperor
into opening China to British trade. But the Emperor decided, rightly, that
the British had nothing to offer him, nor China, and, after ordering Macartney
to ``tremblingly obey,'' sent him packing.
The British would follow the earlier example of the Dutch, who pacified
Indonesia with opium: the Dutch East India Company began shipping opium 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
to Java in 1659, and by the middle of the next century, 100 tons were arriving
every year, in the city of Batavia, alone. The opium addicts and the corrupt
officials who collected bribes to allow smuggling, effectively became allies
with the British in subverting China. Opium had a devastating effect on
the Chinese military, and on the Chinese intelligensia.
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
Although the Chinese had used opium as a medicine, there was no widespread
addiction before the British arrived. The Portuguese had smuggled some opium
to China. The first major shipment of opium, was arranged in 1781, by the
Company's Governor-General, Warren Hastings, who described opium as a ``pernicious'春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
' commodity, ``which the wisdom of the Government should carefully restrain
from internal consumption.'' It was a financial disaster. The opium was
brought to Canton, the only city where the Chinese allowed foreigners to
trade. The Chinese showed little interest, so the ship left without selling
its opium. The Company lost a quarter-of-a-million dollars.
However, steady British smuggling paid off. By 1804, the revenues from opium
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnsales to China, were sufficient to cover the cost of tea, imported from
China. Between 1804 and 1806, $7 million were transferred out of China.
Until 1820, the Company practiced a policy of limiting opium shipments to
less than 5,000 chests, sufficient to gain substantial loot, but calculated 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
so as not to provoke a response from the Chinese.
However, the bankruptcy of the East India Company, and a strategy of more 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
intensive looting of India, required a new, more destructive policy for
China as well. In 1817, the British launched their ``free trade'' offensive
against India, flooding it with English cloth, while blocking the development
of Indian cloth manufacture. The British required increased sales of opium
to pay for the shipments of cloth into India. The Company shifted to a policy
of maximizing opium smuggling (and addiction, as well).
The Company even defended its policy, claiming that it was necessary to
stop competition from other opium smugglers, declaring in 1819, that its
policy was ``to endeavour to secure the command of the Market by furnishing
a Supply on so enlarged a scale and on such reasonable terms as shall prevent
competition.''
The Chinese made a limited effort to stop opium smuggling in 1821. The British
responded by moving the base of their opium-smuggling operations out of
Canton, to the small island of Lintin inside Canton Bay, where the Chinese
navy could not threaten it. The smugglers' ships each carried about ten
cannon, and were more powerful than any fleet which the Chinese Emperor
could deploy against them. The trading companies anchored old ships off
Lintin Island, which stored the opium until small ships smuggled it ashore.
The opium trade increased from 4,244 chests in the 1820-21 season to 18,956
by 1830-31. By 1831, the opium trade into China was two-and-a-half times
greater than the tea trade. It was probably the largest trade in a single
commodity anywhere in the world.
William Jardine: "Iron-Headed Old Rat"
The largest of the ``country traders'' was Jardine, Matheson & Co. William
Jardine and James Matheson formed a partnership in 1828. Matheson was the
first to see the potential of smuggling along the entire Chinese coast.
Matheson blamed the Chinese dislike for ``free trade'' to their ``marvellous
degree of imbecility and avarice, conceit and obstinacy.'' Jardine was nicknamed
``Iron-Headed Old Rat'' by the Chinese. He advocated making Formosa an offshore 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
base for the Western powers. He was also one of the most vocal advocates
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnfor war, stating:
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn``Obtain us but a sale for our goods, and we will supply any quantity....
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnNor indeed should our valuable commerce and revenue both in India and Great
Britain be permitted to remain subject to a caprice which a few gunboats
laid alongside this city would overrule by the discharge of a few mortars....
The results of a war with China could not be doubted.''
Both returned to England, and became members of Parliament. Matheson used
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnhis opium fortune to become the second largest landholder in Great Britain,
and was made a Baron by Queen Victoria. 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
One obstacle to war, was Sir George Robinson, the British Superintendent
of Trade in Canton. He applied to England for orders, which would authorize
him to stop British opium smuggling, which, of course, he never received.
He suggested, in February 1836, that ``a more certain method would be to
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnprohibit the growth of the poppy and manufacture of opium in British India.''
He was fired by Palmerston, then British Foreign Secretary, for this.
Robinson's replacement was Captain Charles Elliot of the Royal Navy, who
had been spying all along on Robinson for Palmerston. Elliot had previously
been involved in designing the plan for ``freeing'' the slaves throughout
the British Empire, which Henry Carey exposed, as being carried out in such
a way, as to have what he termed ``disastrous consequences.'' In Jamaica,
following an ``emancipation'' of the slaves, the effect was to drive down
wages and living standards for both the former slaves, and imported Indian
laborers.
By the late 1830's, there was no doubt that opium was leading to the destruction
of China. By 1836, opium shipments were more than 30,000 chests, enough
to supply 12.5 million smokers. The Chinese imperial army lost a battle
against local rebels because the army was addicted to opium. The financial
drain on China was disrupting the entire economy. From 1829 to 1840, Chinese
exports had brought in 7 million silver dollars, but imports, mainly opium
had drained 56 million. The loss of silver was disrupting the internal economy
leading to increased unrest.
Lin Zexu, appointed by the Emperor to stop the opium traffic, stated:.
``a few decades from now we shall not only be without soldiers to resist
the enemy, but also in want of silver to provide an army.''
The Chinese launched a ruthless campaign in 1838 to wipe out opium consumption,
which, the British complained bitterly, was having an affect. Thousands 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
of Chinese opium merchants were arrested. ``We have never seen so serious
a persecution, or one so general,'' protested William Jardine. By January
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn1840, Captain Elliot informed London that, ``the stagnation of the opium
traffic ... may be said to have been nearly complete for the last four months.
''
Lin Zexu was appointed by the Chinese Emperor, High Commissioner to investigate
port affairs, on December 31, 1839. He deployed sufficient military force
to drive the opium traffickers from Lintin Island. They redeployed to a
barren island further out, named Hongkong. Lin Zexu also demanded that the
British smugglers hand over their stockpiles of opium, and sign a bond pledging
not to smuggle more opium under penalty of death.
Lin sent a letter to Queen Victoria appealing to her to stop the opium traffic.
He told Queen Victoria:
``this poisonous article is manufactured by certain devilish persons in
places subject to your rule.... What is here forbidden to consume, your
dependencies must be forbidden to manufacture.''
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
Lin stated that he believed that opium was banned in England. In fact, opium
was freely supplied to the poor in England, who were working under slave 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
labor conditions, similar to those the British had imposed throughout the
rest of their Empire.
The behavior Captain Charles Elliot was accurately described by James Matheson:
``To a close observer, it would seem as if the whole of Elliot's career
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnwere expressly designed to lead on the Chinese to commit themselves, and
produce a collision... I suppose war with China will be the next step.''
Creating a Pretext for War
Elliot sought to establish a pretext for war other than the defense of opium,
arguing that the issue was the Chinese demand that British merchants be
subject to ``barbaric'' Chinese law. He instructed British merchants to
hand over their, in fact, unsalable opium stockpiles, with the promise that
the British government would reimburse them for their loss. In perhaps the
biggest drug-bust in history, Lin destroyed 20,283 chests, or 2.5 million
pounds seized from British smugglers.
Elliot then deployed the British forces at hand to create a series of incidents
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnwith the Chinese, which could be used to rally support back in England for
the planned war. 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
While Matheson continued the company's smuggling operations from the new
base at Hongkong, Jardine was sent to London, as the representative of all
the opium smugglers, to rally support for war. The propaganda he spread
in London, was that honest British merchants were being besieged, imprisoned,
deprived of food, and actually threatened with death. He rallied British
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cncotton merchants that war was necessary to ``open China'' to imports of 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
British cloth.
Matheson met with Palmerston to plan strategy and supply information, obtained
through his smuggling operations, on Chinese geography, which was crucial
for British military operations.
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
The British sent a fleet of 16 men-of-war, four armed steam ships, and transport
ships carrying 4,000 Scottish, Irish and Indian troops, which arrived in 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
June of 1840. The Chinese were totally unprepared. The Imperial army was
really only a police force, designed to put down internal revolts. Although
the Chinese had invented gunpowder, their artillery was little more effective
than fireworks. Their guns were mounted solidly in their forts or ships 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
and could not be aimed. Although they desperately tried to innovate, during
the wars which followed, the Chinese lacked the science, or the industrial
base necessary to match a British military, well-schooled in slaughtering
defenseless populations.
The British carried out a series of attacks on Chinese cities using the
fleet to destroy obsolete Chinese fortifications, and then threaten the
cities with destruction unless they paid ransom. The British moved cannon
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnto the edge of Canton, and forced the city to pay a ransom of $6 million.
Shanghai paid $300,000, ransom but was still severely looted. 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
Typical was the capture of the Island of Chou-shan and its capital, Tin-hai.
The British used broadsides from the fleet to demolish the fleet of 11 war 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
junks and an obsolete shore battery. The Chinese militia of 1,600 fled the
bombardment. British troops were landed unopposed on the beach, which was
scattered with dead bodies, bows and arrows, spears, and obsolete matchlock
rifles. The Madras Artillery mounted four cannon on a hill, and began shelling
the defenseless town, forcing the residents to flee. Soon, the soldiers
discovered that the town was stocked with rice wine. Drunken soldiers and
sailors pillaged the burning town until there was nothing left to steal or
destroy.
The British sent a fleet up the Yangtze River to cut the Grand Canal and
attack Nanking. All of Beijing's food supply was brought by boat up the
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnGrand Canal. The force, now numbering around 12,000, sailed up the river,
attacking cities along the way, or forcing them to buy immunity. When the
British force arrived in Nanking, the Chinese Emperor sued for peace.
By this time, Captain Elliot had been replaced by Sir Henry Pottinger. Elliot
had been denounced for being too soft on the Chinese, because he had been
willing to settle the war for only $6 million as compensation for the destroyed
opium, and possession of Hongkong. His liberal reputation still intact,
he was sent to his next assignment, as the British representative to the
newly independent Republic of Texas.
Lord Palmerston had given Sir Henry Pottinger precise written instructions
about opium. He was ``strongly to impress upon the Chinese plenipotentiaries
... how much it would be to the interest of that Government to legalize
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnthe trade.''
The Chinese refused to even discuss the legalization of opium. The Emperor
responded: ``Gain-seeking and corrupt men will for profit and sensuality
defeat my wishes, but nothing will induce me to derive a revenue from the
vice and misery of my people.''
In the Treaty of Nanking, signed on August 29, 1842, China agreed to pay
an indemnity of $21 million and cede Hongkong to Britain. The ports of Canton,
Shanghai, Ningpo, Amoy and Fuzhou were declared open for trade, and Chinese
tariffs were limited to 5%. Foreigners in these ``treaty ports'' were not
subject to Chinese laws. Finally, British warships could anchor in the ``treaty
ports'' and could enter any Chinese port ``when the interests of trade demanded.
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn'' The Chinese were quickly forced to sign similar treaties with France
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnand the United States.
In the period following the first Opium War, Hongkong was avoided by tea
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnor silk traders, and instead served as a center for opium smuggling, gambling,
prostitution and piracy. The Governor of Hongkong reported that ``almost
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnevery person possessed of capital who is not connected with government employ
is employed in the opium trade.''
Hongshang: Central Bank for the Opium Trade
The Hongkong economy has continued to be dominated by opium money, as it
developed into a model for the success of British ``free enterprise'' methods.
The Hongkong and Shanghai Bank (``Hongshang''), the closest thing to a
Central Bank that exists in the ``free enterprise'' Hongkong economy, was 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
founded with opium money.
The first Opium War was followed by a second in 1856-60. The British were 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
joined by the French as junior partners, the French having appointed themselves 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
the ``protectors'' of China's Catholics. The combined British and French
forces looted and destroyed the Emperor's Summer Palace.
In the treaty ending the second Opium War, the Chinese were forced to accept
the legalization of opium. With Chinese resistance broken, large scale opium
production in China was begun, supposedly to stop the drain on silver caused
by opium imports. Both imports and domestic production soared, with imports
reaching 105,508 chests by 1880. It is conservatively estimated, that China's
opium-addicts numbered between 30 and 40 million, at that time.
Parallel to this, the British gained a stranglehold on the Chinese economy
and government finances. In 1853, the British were able to grab control
of Chinese Customs in Shanghai, because of the Taiping revolt. Twenty years
later, all Chinese customs were managed by the British, with all Customs
Houses of China within reach of British shells. For 40 years after 1860,
Britain dominated China's commerce. By 1895, China's trade with Britain's
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnrepresented two-thirds of all China trade, which then totalled 53.2 million
pounds sterling.
Opium remained at the head of the list, averaging 10 million pounds sterling
a year during the 1880's. By 1900, a great part of government revenues went
to pay indemnities, imposed on China by various ``peace'' treaties.
Opium went hand-in-hand with foreign conquest and revolution. China was
rapidly broken apart by the centrifugal forces introduced by the effects
of British looting. From 1850 to 1860, China was racked by revolts by the
Taiping and Triad gangs. Deaths from the chaos are estimated to have been
several tens of millions. Many provinces lost more than half their population.
By 1916, China was so shattered, that when nationalists around Sun Yat-sen
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cnattempted to set up a Republic, the greatest problem was to unite the country.
China had been broken apart by competing war lords, a condition similar
to India just prior to the British conquest.
Throughout the early 20th century, Japan, which was the British Empire's
key ally in Asia, launched repeated attacks on China. The Japanese used
British methods, including the bombing of civilians in Shanghai in 1932,
and the use of dope. The Japanese ran huge amounts of drugs, including heroin,
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cninto occupied Manchuria, and by 1944, opium addicts there were estimated
around 13 million, or one-third of the population.
This was the heritage of Hongkong.
With the British lease on the ``New Territories'' part of the Colony running 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
out, in the early 1980s, Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping demanded the return
of the entire colony, including Hongkong island, which had been ceeded ``in
perpetuity,'' on the basis of China's national sovereignty. The British
had little to stand on, and were forced to come to an agreement.
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
Afterword
In the intervening years, the policy of the Chinese government has been
to integrate Hongkong--one of the two largest container ports in the world--into 春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
the Chinese economy. The new Beijing-Kowloon railroad has just been opened,
linking Hongkong with central and north China, and enabling Hongkong's port
to play an urgently needed role in opening and developing the Chinese economy.
春秋中文社区http://bbs.cqzg.cn
In May 1996, Helga Zepp-LaRouche presented LaRouche's concept of using the
Eurasian Land-Bridge as the basis for global economic reconstruction to
a government-sponsored Symposium on the Land-Bridge in Beijing.
It is through this economic reconstruction, that the drug-running, looting
policies of the British empire, will finally be defeated.
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