Oki Purwanto wrote:
>
> >About 100-150 years ago, the Chinese under the Manchu (ie from
> >Manchuria) dynasty had a little Contretemps with the Brits. The Opium
> >Wars. What had happened was that the Brits had developed a taste for
> >tea. The Chinese would only accept payment in silver. Not in Gold. Not
> >in Goods. Silver, and only silver, usually Mexican dollars.
>
> Huh ? I thought the Brits should then just trade/sell their gold/goods for
> silver. Is that really that difficult ?
EMPHATICALLY YES!!! The Manchus forbade trade in anything other than
silver coming in. That was the whole point. There was an enormous market
in China for every kind of good. But anyone smuggling in, say, a set of
crockery got The Chop. Only Opium, which the Mandarins and Balck
Marketeers could on-sell at a healthy profit, was worth the risk.
> >Chinese history, like the history of the USA from 1770-1820, is
> >particularly interesting, and not very well known.
>
> Kinda true. Most of my friends (me inclusive) are not very in tune with the
> history of China, even though it is our ancestral land.
Oh, it's well worth studying! The Tai-Ping period in particular. Also,
right up until 1949. Many, many families had representatives high-up in
both camps. And the Guomintang would be called Communist anywhere else.
It's the same mixture of "Same Families, different faces and ideologies"
that you see constantly to your north.
> It is kinda surprising. They did a small and informal survey in Singapore on
> the eve of the handover. Practically all Asians interviewed (not just
> Singaporeans Chinese) felt happiness/elation/gladness at the handover. The
> reaction however was totally opposite among the 'angmohs' (ie. Caucasians of
> whatever nationality). Quite a few expressed sadness and concern over the
> sun setting of the Empire.
>
> I do not want to read too much into this, but I am quite surprised at the
> clear division of opinions between Asians (not just Chinese) and the West
> (Americans, Brits, etc).
The attitude in Australia is IMHO more one of concern. How long will
Beijing be able to keep its promises?
Still, to have a European colony on the shores of China was a constant
source of friction. An irritation, one that the world is better rid of.
Fortunately, the local people _seem_ to be very glad of the change.
Certainly when I was in HK several times during the 90's there was
plenty of enthusiasm for it. And a lot of fear. We shall see... and HK
immigrants bearing large amounts of hard currency are always welcome in
Oz.
--
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Received on Tue Jul 08 1997 - 05:35:26 UTC
