貿易不平衡是次要的。主要是因為動搖了英國第一殖民者的威名開了不好的頭所以需要殺雞儆猴。這才是根本原因。

所以我說那個作者是半吊子文人因其看事不全麵，看表不看本。

http://webs.bcp.org/sites/vcleary/modernworldhistorytextbook/imperialism/section_5/firstopiumwar.html

There seemed to be a larger issue at stake beyond the pretext of free trade. The Lord of the Admiralty wrote enthusiastically to a friend in a private letter, “Afterall, it is nothing more nor less than the conquest of China we have undertaken” (Beeching 98).