Editing First Opium War (section)

=== Battle of Chuenpi ===

In late October 1839, the merchant ship ''Thomas Coutts'' arrived in China and sailed to Guangzhou. ''Thomas Coutts''{{'}}s [[Quakers|Quaker]] owners refused on religious grounds to deal in opium, a fact that the Chinese authorities were aware of. The ship's captain, Warner, believed Elliot had exceeded his legal authority by banning the signing of the "no opium trade" bond,{{sfn|Hanes|Sanello|2004|p=68}} and negotiated with the governor of Guangzhou. Warner hoped that all British ships not carrying opium could negotiate to legally unload their goods at Chuenpi, an island near [[Humen Town|Humen]].<ref>Hans, Sellano (2004) p. 68.</ref>{{failed verification|date=September 2021}}

To prevent other British ships from following ''Thomas Coutts''{{'}}s precedent, Elliot ordered a blockade of British shipping in the [[Pearl River]]. Fighting began on 3 November 1839, when a second British ship, {{ship||Royal Saxon|1829 ship|2}}, attempted to sail to Guangzhou. The Royal Navy ships [[HMS Volage (1825)|HMS ''Volage'']] and [[HMS Hyacinth (1829)|HMS ''Hyacinth'']] fired warning shots at ''Royal Saxon''. In response to this commotion, a fleet of Chinese [[Junks|war junks]] under the command of [[Guan Tianpei]] sailed out to protect ''Royal Saxon''.<ref>Parker (1888) pp. 10–11.</ref> The ensuing [[Battle of Chuenpi]] resulted in the destruction of 4 Chinese war junks and the withdrawal of both fleets.<ref name="Elleman-2001">{{Cite book |last=Elleman |first=Bruce A. |title=Modern Chinese warfare, 1795–1989 |year=2001 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-415-21474-2}}</ref>{{page needed|date=December 2021}} The Qing navy's official report on the Battle of Chuenpi claimed that the navy had protected the British merchant vessel and reported a great victory for the day. In reality, the Chinese had been out-classed by the British vessels and several Chinese ships were disabled.<ref name="Elleman-2001" />{{page needed|date=December 2021}} Elliot reported that his squadron was protecting the 29 British ships in Chuenpi, and began to prepare for the Qing reprisal. Fearing that the Chinese would reject any contacts with the British and eventually attack with fire rafts, he ordered all ships to leave Chuenpi and head for [[Causeway Bay]], {{convert|20|mi|km|-1}} from Macau, hoping that offshore anchorages would be out of range of Lin. Elliot asked [[Adrião Acácio da Silveira Pinto]], the Portuguese governor of Macau, to let British ships load and unload their goods there in exchange for paying rents and any duties. The governor refused for fear that the Chinese would discontinue supplying food and other necessities to Macau, and on 14 January 1840 the Daoguang Emperor asked all foreign merchants in China to halt material assistance to the British.<ref name="Elleman-2001" />{{page needed|date=December 2021}}