Opium Wars averted?

I don't want to simply redo Tony Jones' excellent Monarchy World timeline, but I'm trying to figure out how the Chinese could have banned the opium trade while appeasing the British by importing some other good.

What if someone in the bureaucracy actually notices that some of the technology the foreigners had was actually pretty good, and started importing steam engines instead? How could the Chinese cultural mindset at the time even have considered that the Europeans had something worth acquiring at the time.
 
The Chinese could have averted the whole affair had they agreed to open their country up for trade (and full diplomatic relations) with Britain during the 1793 Macartney Embassy to China. It would have been more to their benefit, especially since the Qing Dynasty was then at its peak and in a position to dictate terms.
 
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This is actually something I've wondered about myself, especially seeing as so many PoDs (eg Britain rising more slowly or stagnating in India) could well have had that affect...
 
The Opium Wars are certainly avoidable; the second was, imho, essentially the British taking advantage of the ongoing chaos in China from numerous rebellions, and once the Brits were involved the French, Russians, and Americans followed their lead.
 
Well, could Lin Zexu have treated the banning of opium a little less brusquely, going through with the compensation of British traders as originally announced, and could the British have found something else to trade with the Chinese instead?
 
The Qing Empire of the time was as likely to accept narco-traffic in its borders as the USA is today, the British Empire of the time was a very racist society that didn't like uppity nonwhites protesting even when the protests were quite valid. This isn't too likely to change, unfortunately. :( If they were, there is not going to be a Taiping Rebellion.
 
The Chinese could have averted the whole affair had they agreed to open their country up for trade (and full diplomatic relations) with Britain during the 1793 Macartney Embassy to China.

Actually, IMHO, the chinese could have averted quite a lot of problems if they were more open to trade. The main interst of the nomads in the northern steppes was trade. The main interest of the Europeans was trade. That trade should also promote new ideas and hence modernization, thus China would likely never fall that far behind the West.
 
The main problem is always that Europeans didn't have anything that was in demand in China that wasn't easier to produce in China itself. Though I have heard that there was a bit of kosher trade going on regardless, but it got sidelined due to greater profit margins for opium.

As for importing steam engines. It doesn't seem like a long-term prospect for trade. It's not like the British as a rule tried not to export industrial machinery to foreign nations (individuals did, sure, but it was not encouraged). And if the Chinese got serious about it they'd start producing their own and wouldn't need to import any more. Though I suppose industrial tools could work for awhile as a trade good.
 
One easy way of not having the war is for Britain to be so heavily involved somewhere else the government is not going to risk a conflict. Then you'd get the ban and the crisis, but it would blow over and cool down, and you'd see where to start again with relations from there. Nothing exists in a vacuum

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Grey Wolf
 

Glen

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As to the British getting so bogged down they can't do anything in China - possible, but looking over 19th century British history, the amazing thing is just how many military interventions they DID do in the 19th century - I think it would take a major British disaster to avert their interest here, at least for the first Opium War (I agree too that the second one was more avoidable). And even if you get the British off their backs, that is no guarantee that another European Power won't kick open the door around the same time.

No, the two keys are trade and strength, and to a degree, just civility. If China at least opens up trade for items other than opium, that takes off some of the political heat, and buys China time - and if it is done without a guy pointed to their heads, then it might not include so many onerous side agreements, like extraterritoriality. Note that the Western Powers will push again, but this buys time.

The second is strength - China must modernize and they must invest in a Navy and Naval defenses. Once China has these, then they become a much less appetizing target, and they can say no to the Europeans more readily.

The bonus one which is sadly unlikely is civility. The Qing Dynasty shot itself in the foot so many times by not being diplomatic - the constant rebuffs did not leave the European Powers in much mood to talk, as the only time the Qing seemed to listen was after a military defeat. Not a good way to avoid wars.
 
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