Come On, Mr. Brown, Stand Up to the Chinese! (Blog #1)

After reading Will Hutton's article from The Observer entitled, Come On, Mr. Brown, Stand Up to the Chinese, I was reminded of the ongoing tension that still exists between the Chinese Government and many foreign governments, in particular, Great Britain. In his article Hutton admonished British Prime Minister Gordon Brown for being to easy on the Chinese in regards to many of their government policies. Hutton feels the reason Britain tends to handle the Chinese Government with kid gloves may be due to an inferiority complex in regards to trade. Hutton stated, "...we have so little that China wants to buy."
Once I read that statement I thought of this weeks readings and the emergence of the opium trade in China. The trade inferiority complex that may be leading Britain to overlook some questionable governmental policies...has existed in Britain since the 1700s. "By 1800 tea had become the 'national drink' in Great Britain, and the search for a counterweight to address the growth this trade imbalance contributed to British leaders' reliance on opium."