That was certainly how the British saw it: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Lord_Palmerston_to_the_Minister_of_the_Emperor_of_China https://en.wikisource.org/wiki

That was certainly how the British saw it: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Lord_Palmerston_to_the_Minister_of_the_Emperor_of_China https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Lord_Palmerston_to_the_Minist...