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However, after it had been drafted and tentatively accepted by the representatives of both China and Great Britain, the British Home Government raised objections to the opium clause and wished to have it modified before the formal ratification of the agreement.
Some of the difficulty had been caused because the British negotiators had not consulted British interests in India regarding the opium clause. Reference to India was important as the sale of opium was considered essential to the British Indian economy. If the export was curtailed or stopped, drastic readjustments, both in agriculture and in finance, would have had to be made.
The demand to adopt these hard measures, however, was increasingly heard by the British Government. It came under criticism both at home and abroad about its opium policy.
In 1881, the Viceroy of Chihli, Li Hung-chang, sent an unofficial representative to India to discuss the problem with the authorities there. He proposed that China buy up all the opium on the understanding that there would be a gradual reduction in its production over the years.
The plan would have also meant severe financial readjustments for China, as the taxes it derived from opium imports were a significant part of its revenue.
Viceroy Li presented a memorial to the Chinese emperor for the approval of the creation of an opium monopoly by the Chinese Government. In the memorial he presented the several advantages of the plan. He argued that it would enable the Chinese Government to levy whatever tax it wished on opium without any interference from foreign powers. With China controlling all opium imports, it could then begin a programme to control the production of opium within China.
The view of one newspaper editor was that the plan, if put into effect, would be a "test of their (the Chinese) sincerity of the position they have taken since opium was first introduced to China; viz, that it is a poisonous and dangerous drug, seriously detrimental...