HOW MUCH DRUG USE DOES IT TAKE TO TAKE DOWN AN EMPIRE?
Even today, opium remains an important symbol in China,” writes historian Björn Rosen, “namely of the humiliation of the country by the West and the dramatic decline that continued until the Qing Empire collapsed in 1911.” Once again, there was good reason for an empire’s decline and fall… The 18th century was a golden age for China. Under its Qing rulers China expanded like never before and became one of the richest nations in the world. China conducted business exclusively on its own terms and restricted trade with the outside world. For instance, British trade with China was based on three commodities: Indian cotton, British silver, and Chinese tea, creating a trade balance that was heavily in China’s favor. But then Britain altered the balance by replacing cotton with Indian opium. When an 1810 Chinese law prohibited the use of opium, Britain’s network of smugglers distributed the drug; more and more people got hooked, the economy suffered, and by 1839 the nation was home to some 12 million addicts, including soldiers who became incapable of fighting. When China tried to enforce its ban an opium war broke out, and Britain emerged victorious. China had to legalize opium, concede Hong Kong to Britain, and grant the British Empire most favored nation status. The imperial age of China was over.
What can the Chinese experience teach America? “The United States has a huge drug addiction problem,” says Professor Jäger. (More than 93,000 people died of a drug overdose in 2020 alone—a record nearly 25% higher than the figure for 2019.) “The opioid epidemic is destroying social structures and crippling the economy.”