British opium wars not equivalent to poisoning
Re: “US and UK have history of using poison politically”, Have Your Say, April 23.
It is unfortunate that Prasan Stianrapapongs endorses Eric Bahrt’s intemperate and abusive language in describing the US and the UK as “stinking liars” and also unfortunate, and wrong, to claim that Queen Victoria sent tonnes of opium to China. Queen Victoria had nothing to do with it. Also, describing opium as a poison is inaccurate, especially if it is used sparingly, although it is of course addictive. In fact, for centuries opium was used around the world, including China, for both medical and recreational purposes, and its medical use continued in Western countries and elsewhere well into the 19th century.
We British did force China to accept our consignments of opium to rectify a trade imbalance, but we didn’t force it on the consumers; they were only too happy to take it. Our imperious and arrogant behaviour naturally outraged the Chinese authorities, and resulted in the Opium Wars, in which China came off second best. In a punitive and vindictive expedition, British and French troops looted and destroyed the Summer Palace outside Beijing, an act of appalling cultural vandalism, although later Chinese rulers were not above doing the same thing. Hundreds of Buddhist temples were systematically destroyed by Chinese troops following the invasion of Tibet in 1951, and of course untold damage was done to historical artefacts in China itself during the Cultural Revolution.
None of the foregoing has of course anything whatsoever to do with recent events in Syria and Salisbury, but the repeated singling out of the US and UK for vilification is becoming tedious in the extreme.
Robin Grant
Bangkok
