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Following the development of British capitalism and the expansion of opium smuggling, British intention to grab a few Chinese islands became firmer. In 1830 forty-seven British merchants connected with opium smuggling in China jointly petitioned the British Parliament requesting the British government to "make a decision consistent with the nation's interests to take possession of an island on China's seaboard" so as to protect Britain's trade with China. (Note 5) But they did not specify which place it should be. Matheson suggested Ling Ding Island. Jardine, however, wanted to fish for a foothold in Taiwan's troubled waters by taking advantage of Taiwan people's disaffection against the Qing government. (Note 6) Some suggested Zhejiang's Zhoushan or Fujian's Xiamen. In 1833 G. Staunton who had twice accompanied British envoys to China delivered a speech in the House of Commons to the effect that Hong Kong was a fine harbour and ideal anchorage for shipping and that possession by Britain would turn the island into a most appropriate trading centre free from Chinese control. (Note 7) In 1834 upon intense lobbying by the bourgeoisie the British government revoked East India Company's franchise to trade with China. W. Napier was appointed the first trade commissioner to China who later arrived in Guangzhou. Before his dealth in the same year he had all along been an articulate advocate of the possession of Hong Kong Island on the east of Zhujiang (Pearl River) estuary. (Note 8)
Rampant opium smuggling leading to huge outflow of silver bullion awakened the Qing government to an awareness of the seriousness of the problem. In 1839 Lin Zexu was given an imperial mandate to ban opium in Guangzhou. Buckling down to business Lin carried out a seizure of all opium and censured 'British trade commissioner C Elliot for siding with opium traders in the
latter's refusal to surrender the opium. Elliot eventually ordered the British merchants to hand over all of the opium in their possession. Lin incinerated the opium in public and demanded of the foreign merchants to refrain from smuggling opium into China. Elliot, however, was not above going to war to destroy China's opium ban. He reported the matter to British prime minister Palmerston vilifying the opium ban as 'an unjust atrocious act' and 'a gross infringement of British life and property interests as well as an affrontery to her Britannic Majesty'. He requested the British government to deal China a heavy and lightning blow. Opium traders Jardine, Matheson and others echoed the war cry and advocated the use of force against China. In November of the same year, London's East India Company and the China Society petitioned Palmerston for conclusion of trade treaties with China incorporating provisions for ceding of a Chinese island for the setting up of trading houses thereon. The petition went on to say that the British nation and other European countries would not object to the use of force to achieve the said objectives.
Palmerston got news of the Chinese opium ban in September and decided to wage war against China indicating barbarously that the only way to deal with China was "to give a sound drubbing first and talk later". (Note 9) He secretly informed Elliot that Britain was sending an expeditionary force to China. He also appointed G Elliot and C Elliot plenipotentiaries giving them instructions to expand the war of aggression if the Qing government should fail to give a satisfactory answer. In an official memorandum to the Chinese government Palmerston broached compensation for opium to merchants and ceding of an island saying, "......The British government requests the Chinese government to cede in perpetuity a coastal island or islands of an area and location considered suitable by the British plenipotentiaries as a living and trading base for British subjects so that they will be free from personal interference and their goods and property accorded protection." If China would not accede to