Strangling Quotes

This attempt to restrict the opium trade led to the First Opium War between England and China. Some historians, and the Chinese at the time, characterized this as a legitimate attempt to rid China of a terribly debilitating vice. The English saw this as a protectionist measure against a trade agreement so that only Chinese businessmen could import and sell opium instead of competing with an open, free market. Some Chinese officials and advisors were motivated by one or both of these reasons, but they never considered at the time, general prohibition of opium. This was not done until the Empress Dowager prohibited the use of opium for all under 60 years of age in 1906, more than 70 years thereafter. See {641732}.