Empire of Tea

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Sathnam Sanghera tells the story of our national drink and its imperial past.

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Empire of Tea: 4. The Tea Wars

4. The Tea Wars

BBC Radio 4 - Empire of Tea, 4. The Tea Wars

How Britain’s sale of opium to buy tea changed China’s view of the west.

Over dim sum and oolong tea, Yangwen Zheng of Manchester University tells Sathnam Sanghera why the Opium Wars should be called the Tea Wars, and how they cast a long shadow.

As Britain’s demand for tea soared in the late 18th century, an economic problem was emerging. Britain wanted to buy lots of tea from China, but China wasn’t interested in the commodities Britain had to sell. That meant silver was draining out of Britain and into China. 
Eventually a solution was found: opium. It was an imperial product Britain could grow in India and sell to China.
But the Chinese leadership didn't want the narcotic, and Britain’s desire to offset its tea habit by selling an addictive, hard drug that harmed Chinese people, led to war. 
Professor of Chinese history Yangwen Zheng explains how the situation escalated, and the long shadow the conflict casts upon the modern world.

Produced by Paul Martin for BBC Audio Wales

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Empire of Tea

4. The Tea Wars

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