alternatehistory.com

The Macartney mission was Great Britain's initial attempt to gain commercial access to China in 1793, however the Qianlong Emperor rejected the envoy, saying that China already had everything that it needed and basically told Macartney to shove it.

China paid dearly for this years later, as it turned out China did not have everything that it needed, mainly, modern military technology.

Anyhow, the premise of this POD is what if the Qianlong Emperor accepted Lord Macartney's mission, and full trade relations were established with Britain? Would open trade have prevented or at least moderated the decline of the Qing and that China would not have had to suffer the embarassments of the Opium War and Imperialist encroachment?
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