Letters | Huawei and China tech feeling the effects of modern-day opium war

When British and American smugglers shipped in opium in defiance of a Chinese ban, their actions led to a century of weakness for China. Are they trying to do the same by targeting Huawei and other Chinese tech companies?

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Pedestrians on their mobile phones near a Huawei advertisement at a bus stop in central London in April. Photo: AFP

Published: 7:25am, 18 Jun 2019Updated: 7:25am, 18 Jun 2019

I am writing to express my support for China and the calm way in which the government and its officials have acted in the face of the one-sided, biased and racist media in Britain and the United States.

Unfounded allegations and scare stories about Chinese companies appear on news channels in the US and UK every day. Chinese businesspeople are arbitrarily arrested while in transit at airports. Countries are threatened and put under economic siege if they do business with Chinese technology companies. It appears that western governments are hell-bent on undermining and weakening China.

The British and other western governments have done this before and there are very clear lessons in history. Prior to the 1839 opium war, British and Americans smugglers shipped opium into China in defiance of a Chinese ban. Their actions, and the subsequent wars, weakened China for more than a century. The actions of the same western countries in targeting and stifling Chinese technology bear echoes of the opium wars and the Western powers’ wish to keep China weak.

An 1843 report in “The Illustrated London News” about the arrival of Chinese silver at the Royal Mint, as part of forced Chinese reparations after the opium wars. Photo: Handout

I believe that all Chinese children should be taught about the opium wars so they have a true perspective. I believe that any whingeing or crying from Britain or the US about China should be treated with disgust. The hypocrisy of these countries is apparent. Britain should issue an apology for the atrocity of pushing opium on the Chinese people and causing 100 years of suffering.