The Kowloon Incident Case Study

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Recommended: Discuss the cause of the opium war

A. Plan of Investigation

The aim of this investigation is to establish the extent in which Captain Charles Elliot’s actions the Kowloon Incident of July 1839 lead to the First Opium War. In order to assess this, the research will focus on the Kowloon Incident, the interests and actions of the Commissioner of Canton, Lin Zexu and the British Superintendent of Trade in China, Charles Elliot, the Chinese legal system and the question of extraterritoriality. The investigation will consist on books as sources, such as The Opium Wars: Drugs, Dreams and the Making of China by Julia Lovell, and The Opium War Through Chinese Eyes by Arthur Waley. They will be evaluated for their origins, purposes, limitations, and values.

Word count: 132

B. Summary of Evidence

Kowloon Incident:
- Opium-carrying ships in Macao sailed forty miles northeast to Hong Kong’s harbor for better protection.
- Safe for the Bogue (entrance to Canton riverways).
- Chinese warship arrested comprador of British ship (Carnatic) and sailors plotted revenge.
- July 1839: 30 English and American sailors got blind drunk with fortifies rice wine (samshu), destroyed a temple and fought with local peasants in Jianshazui.
- Lin Weixi died a day later of severe beating.
- Embittered Chinese-English relations.

Elliot’s decisions:
- Elliot rushed to distribute bribes to the family, for evidence of murderer, to villagers and government.
- August 17th: Elliot said that in obedience with the Queen’s instructions, he could not hand anyone over, but if found, he would be executed.
- Lin responded that his Sovereign ‘is myriads of leagues away’ and it was impossible to have received a reply in so little time.
- Blamed American sailors, who were also present. This complicat...

... middle of paper ...

... he had no power to hold, where five out of six men were guilty of violence. They were freed when they were sent back to England. Lin was aware of the foolishness that Elliot was putting up, and even refused to let government officials to attend to the trial.

Word count: 667

E. Conclusion

Captain Charles Elliot acted according to his nation’s interests in regards of the Kowloon Incident, responding to the different decisions made by Commissioner Lin Zexu. The Chinese were very demanding for the justice of the Lin Weixi case. This encircled Elliot in a situation of war, since Commissioner Lin limited their supplies, had no escape of the ruthlessness of the Chinese legal system, and was not granted the benefit of extraterritoriality. This is why Captain Smith, with the permission of Elliot, fired the first gunshots of the First Opium War in September 4th, 1839.

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