If Colombia responded by carpet bombing American port cities into submission, then it would be a fair comparison. That said, it's possible that the opium wars

If Colombia responded by carpet bombing American port cities into submission, then it would be a fair comparison. That said, it's possible that the opium wars get too much credit for China's weakened position, relative to the Taiping Rebellion (Chinese civil war) which claimed around 20 million lives, comparable to the first world war. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiping_Rebellion https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiping_Rebellion