贸易不平衡是次要的。主要是因为动摇了英国第一殖民者的威名开了不好的头所以需要杀鸡儆猴。这才是根本原因。

所以我说那个作者是半吊子文人因其看事不全面，看表不看本。

http://webs.bcp.org/sites/vcleary/modernworldhistorytextbook/imperialism/section_5/firstopiumwar.html

There seemed to be a larger issue at stake beyond the pretext of free trade. The Lord of the Admiralty wrote enthusiastically to a friend in a private letter, “Afterall, it is nothing more nor less than the conquest of China we have undertaken” (Beeching 98).