Editing East India Company (section)

==== China ====
The British began trading with China in 1699.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theeastindiacompany.com/pages/history |title=The East India Company}}</ref> This fact is recorded from the Chinese side in ''[[Qingshi gao|The Draft History of the Qing]]'' under the year Kangxi 37 (1698).<ref>Zhao, Erxun 趙爾巽 ed. (1927). Qingshi Gao 清史稿, book 154. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju.</ref> The apparent discrepancy between the British and Chinese sources can be explained by the fact that [[Chinese New Year]] of 1699 did not fall until January 31, so that any treaties entered into in January would have been logged under Kangxi 37 rather than Kangxi 38. In 1715 the Company established a permanent "factory" in [[Guangzhou]] (Canton).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rh7.org/factshts/eindiaco.pdf |title=The East India Company |author=The RH7 History Group}}</ref>

The company started selling opium to Chinese merchants in the 1770s in exchange for goods like [[porcelain]] and [[tea]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Opium War {{!}} National Army Museum |url=https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/opium-war-1839-1842 |access-date=2023-09-07 |website=www.nam.ac.uk |language=en}}</ref> causing a series of [[Opioid use disorder|opioid addiction]] outbreaks across China in 1820.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Opium trade {{!}} History & Facts {{!}} Britannica Money |url=https://www.britannica.com/money/topic/opium-trade |access-date=2023-09-07 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> The ruling [[Qing dynasty]] outlawed the opium trade in 1796 and 1800,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Canada |first=Asia Pacific Foundation of |title=The Opium Wars in China |url=https://asiapacificcurriculum.ca/learning-module/opium-wars-china |access-date=2023-09-07 |website=Asia Pacific Curriculum |language=en}}</ref> but British merchants continued illegally nonetheless.<ref>{{Cite web |title=First Opium War |url=https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/First-Opium-War/ |access-date=2023-09-07 |website=Historic UK |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=CONA Iconography Record |url=https://www.getty.edu/cona/CONAIconographyRecord.aspx?iconid=901001459 |access-date=2023-09-07 |website=www.getty.edu}}</ref> The Qing took measures to prevent the East India Company from selling opium, and destroyed tens of thousands of chests of opium already in the country.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Opium Wars {{!}} Definition, Summary, Facts, & Causes {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Opium-Wars |access-date=2023-09-07 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> This series of events led to the [[First Opium War]] in 1839, which involved a succession of British naval attacks along the Chinese coast over the course of several months. As part of the [[Treaty of Nanking|Treaty of Nanjing]] in 1842, the Qing were forced to give British merchants special treatment and the right to sell opium. The Chinese also ceded territory to the British, including the island of [[Hong Kong Island|Hong Kong]].<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Hong Kong and the Opium Wars |url=https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/hong-kong-and-the-opium-wars/ |access-date=2023-09-07 |website=The National Archives |language=en-GB}}</ref>