A spot of both over trade with China
/I visited the British Naval Museum in Portsmouth earlier this year. Well worth a visit. While it may be Chinese hyperbole to describe the century following the first Opium War as the "Century of Humiliation", the British are at their best when it comes to understatement. Philip Newton aboard the HEICS* Nemesis (a nice touch of irony) won the 1st China War Medal. The photo shows how the British Naval Museum described the war:
“53 British and Indian Naval ships were sent to China because of Chinese refusal to allow foreign merchants near their coasts. This affected British Trade, so naval brigades were landed.”
Really just a minor spot of bother that the Chinese really should forget all about. The fact that the war was to stuff opium up their noses and went on for 2 years or that for the next century the British Navy was called in numerous times to enforce treaty rights and the China Station became on of the largest navies in the world in its own right are not worth a mention.
First China war
* Honourable East India Company Ship