Latest news with #OpiumWar
South China Morning Post
04-05-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Naval guns, crowds welcome Queen Elizabeth to Hong Kong in 1975 – from the SCMP archive
This article was first published on May 5, 1975 Advertisement To the boom of welcoming naval guns firing a Royal salute and the skirl of Gurkha pipers, the Queen was yesterday welcomed to Hong Kong as she sailed across Fragrant Harbour. Amid waving flags and beneath the skyscrapers of Hong Kong and Kowloon, the Queen and her husband, Prince Philip, received an enthusiastic welcome as they made their historic touchdown at Kai Tak. A historic moment for Hong Kong as Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip arrive at Kai Tak Airport on May 4, 1975. Photo: SCMP It was the first visit to the Colony of a reigning monarch since Hong Kong came under British rule 134 years ago after the first Opium War. Fireboats sent gigantic sprays into the air as the Governor's launch, Lady Maurine, took the Queen, Prince Philip, and the Governor, Sir Murray MacLehose, and Lady MacLehose, to an appropriately-named landing point on Hong Kong Island – Queen's Pier. The Royal couple enjoyed a triumphant welcome. Distant crowds cheered as the special British Airways Boeing 707 jet roared in over Lyemun. Advertisement Under brilliant skies, with a few puffy white clouds, the jet touched down gently as it landed. The Queen and Prince Philip stepped down from the plane to greet the Governor and Lady MacLehose, the Commander British Forces, Sir Edwin Brammall, the Colonial Secretary, Mr Denys Roberts, the Chief Justice, Sir Geoffrey Briggs, Senior Executive Councillor, Sir Yuet-keung Kan, and Lady Kan, and Senior Legislative Councillor, Dr S. Y. Chung, and Lady Chung.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Major trade wars since the 19th century
As the world reels from US President Donald Trump's tariffs onslaught, here is a look back at some major trade wars since the 19th century: - 19th century Opium Wars - In the mid-19th century, two conflicts over the opium trade, which became known as the Opium Wars, pitted China against the British Empire. The first began in 1839, when Britain launched a military expedition to force China to open its market to Indian opium sold by British merchants. Britain won the clash in 1842, with success going beyond opium as China was forced to give up the region of Hong Kong, open five ports to world trade, and limit its customs tariffs to five percent. In the second Opium War, from 1856-1860, Britain allied with France, and again the imperial power came out on top, forcing China to open up eleven additional ports to foreign trade and maintain diplomatic relations with the West. - 1890: McKinley offensive - In 1890, William McKinley -- then a Republican lawmaker, later a US president -- saw through a new law that slapped an average tariff of nearly 50 percent on imports into America. While the tax hike boosted the development of tinplate production in the US, for example, it also caused prices to soar. In elections that same year for the US House of Representatives, Republicans suffered big losses, losing their majority to the Democrats. Two years later, the incumbent Republic president was dumped by voters in favour of a Democrat. McKinley's unpopular law was repealed in 1894. He nevertheless went on to become US president in 1897. He was assassinated in 1901, months after winning a second term. Trump often mentions as McKinley as inspiration his protectionist policies. - 1930: Smoot–Hawley Act - The Smoot-Hawley Act, named after the two US politicians behind it, imposed tariffs of nearly 60 percent on over 20,000 imported agricultural and industrial products. Trade partners, led by Canada, retaliated with taxes on US exports, which fell by more than 61 percent between 1929 and 1933. - 1960s: Chicken war - In the early 1960s, France and Germany jointly decided to tax the import of US chicken, produced at industrial scale. The United States retaliated with taxes on a series of products, particularly on certain utility vehicles, which remain taxed to this day. The so-called Chicken War ran from 1961 to 1964. - 1985: Pasta war - This dispute began in 1985 when president Ronald Reagan, in a bid to protect US industry, raised tariffs on pasta imports from Europe . Europe responded with taxes on US imports of nuts and lemons. The standoff lasted nine months before the United States and the European Economic Community (EEC) -- as the EU was then known -- reached an agreement. - 1989-2009: Beef hormone dispute - In 1989, the EEC banned imports of beef treated with growth hormones. After challenging the measure at the World Trade Organization (WTO), which ruled in their favour, the United States and Canada, the countries most affected, imposed 100-percent tariffs in 1999 on a range of European goods, from French Roquefort cheese to Italian truffles. In a compromise deal inked in 2009, these taxes were eventually suspended, and European import quotas for high-quality, hormone-free beef were gradually increased, leading to a final agreement in 2019. - 1993–2012: Banana war - In 1993, the EU granted preferential customs regimes to the former European colonies in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific, to the detriment of bananas produced by US multinationals in Latin American countries. These countries filed a complaint with the WTO, which condemned the EU several times, and Latin American countries were authorised to apply retaliatory measures. An agreement was signed in 2012, allowing for a reduction in import tariffs on bananas from 11 Latin American countries and the end of actions taken by these countries against the EU. - 2002: Bush vs. EU - In 2002, US President George W. Bush imposed three-year surcharges of up to 30 percent on 10 categories of products including flat-rolled steel, machine wires and welded tubes. These measures, intended to boost the US steel industry, affected nearly 29 percent of imports. The EU filed a complaint with the WTO and published a list of US products it threatened to tax by up to 100 percent. At the end of 2003, Bush opted to lift the tariffs. bur-paj-lc-eab/rmb
Yahoo
01-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
China accuses US of fentanyl 'blackmail' after latest tariff threat
By Joe Cash and Laurie Chen BEIJING (Reuters) - Beijing accused the United States on Friday of exerting "tariff pressure and blackmail" after President Donald Trump's latest threat to slap an extra duty of 10% on imports from China, citing a continued flow of fentanyl into the country. The fresh China tariffs, in addition to a tariff of 10% levied on February 4, coincide with Wednesday's start of China's annual parliamentary meet, a setpiece political event at which Beijing is expected to roll out its 2025 economic priorities. Washington had "used the fentanyl issue to insist on tariff pressure and blackmail," foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a daily briefing. "It has created a serious impact, pressure, coercion and threat to the dialogue and cooperation between the two sides in the field of drug control," Lin said of the tariffs, warning that they would backfire. "Remarkable results have been achieved," he added, from China's anti-drug cooperation with the United States, saying China was the world's first country to officially control fentanyl-like substances. On Thursday, Trump said his proposed 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods would take effect on Tuesday, along with the extra duty of 10% on Chinese imports. The announcement leaves Beijing less than a week to publish countermeasures, as Trump's administration shows signs of a hardening stance towards its strategic rival despite backing down on the threat of tariffs of up to 60% when he took office. In an interview with Fox News on Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused China of waging a "reverse" Opium War over fentanyl, suggesting that Beijing may be "deliberately" flooding America with the synthetic opioid. He was referring to the two 19th-century Opium Wars China lost to Britain and France, after which it was forced to buy large volumes of the drug and concede parts of its territory to colonial Western powers. Earlier on Friday, China's commerce ministry said it had some of the world's toughest anti-drug policies, and highlighted the risks new tariffs would bring to global supply chains. U.S. tariff threats are "purely 'shifting blame and shirking responsibility,' which is not conducive to solving its own problems," it added. Analysts say Beijing still hopes to strike a deal with the Trump administration. But with trade talks not having materialised yet and the White House ramping up signs it is preparing for a wider economic decoupling from China, the prospect of a rapprochement between the world's top two economies is fading, they added. "There's been a lot of motion, but it's still not clear exactly what the Trump administration's fundamental goal is with respect to China," said Christopher Beddor, deputy China research director at Gavekal Dragonomics. CHINA HOPES FOR TALKS China's commerce ministry said it hoped to return to negotiations with the United States as soon as possible, warning that failure to do so could trigger retaliation. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday he decided to add the extra tariffs on China and stick to the Tuesday deadline for Canada and Mexico given what his administration sees as insufficient progress on curbing fentanyl flows into the country. On Friday, China's public security ministry said it had placed seven new precursor chemicals to a domestic control list and 24 new precursor chemicals to an export control list. It said that it had cracked 151 cases of drug-making materials, of which it seized 1,427.4 tons in the past year, although without saying if these were related to fentanyl. Both the White House and officials in Beijing appear to be preparing for another four years of bruising trade tension. State media said top Chinese Communist Party officials met on Friday and vowed to take steps to prevent and resolve any external shocks to China's economy. The Politburo meeting comes a week after the White House released an America First investment memorandum which placed China on a list of "foreign adversaries". It also accused Beijing of seeking to exploit investments in U.S. firms to steal cutting-edge technology and fund military development. This month, Trump nominated China hawk Landon Heid to a key commerce department post overseeing the design of AI chip export controls targeting China and other countries.
BBC News
11-02-2025
- BBC News
Historical bell stolen from war memorial in Nottingham park
A bell has been stolen from a war memorial in a Nottingham Police said the bell was taken from the Chinese Bell Tower, in the city's force said Nottingham City Council, which runs the Arboretum, had recently noticed the bell was missing though it was unclear exactly when it was England said the bell was installed in the tower in the 1950s to replace one looted by British troops from a temple in Canton during the Anglo-Chinese War (Opium War) of 1857-61. The original was donated to a Karl Browne said: "Thankfully the stolen bell is not the original one that was erected at the park in 1862."However, the replacement still carries much historic significance, having been the centrepiece of the Chinese Bell Tower for many years."Since the theft was reported to us, we have trawled local CCTV and liaised with scrapyards and local dealers to establish if any person tried to sell it for scrap metal and have it melted down."Anyone with information about the bell is urged to contact the police.
