At the same time the west was expanding rapidly, mainly Britain which was colonising a large proportion of the world, in particular India. The Chinese viewed the Western "barbarians" as "outlandish in their physical characteristics, generally uncouth and smelling of mutton fat". The official history of the Ming had described how the Portuguese used to boil and eat Chinese children. This form of propaganda which slandered the West was helpful to the Chinese government to show a strong front, while in reality the Imperial court was quickly declining in power. In 1792, King George III of England sent a petition to the Emperor of China, stating;.
.
"My country has long wished to send an envoy to China; but owing to the repeated .
occurrence of warfare around our territory, we have delayed in taking such a step.
until the present time we are building large ships and sending our wise men to .
all parts of the world not because we wish to acquire new territories, nor to realize .
large profits through trade, but because we want to learn about the various countries .
of the world." .
The Emperor of China sent a reply to King George, saying; .
"How can you expect me to grant your request to have an Englishman residing in Peking, how can I refuse a similar request from others? This simply cannot be done. How can you expect me to change to established rule of more than one hundred years simply to satisfy the wish of one king?" .
In 1793 a British envoy was sent to China to attempt to establish trade and an embassy. The Chinese showed extreme disinterest, and the Emperor met the envoy in a tent, displaying great disrespect. At this time war was unforeseeable, and it was not until the trade balance tipped firmly into Britain's favour that the Opium War was beginning to become a possibility. .
Trade was initiated with China firstly by Britain, and then the other foreign powers followed. There were strict regulations concerning trade and initially China was benefiting much more from the relationship with Britain than they originally thought.
