At Chatham Square, Mr Monkey found a memorial to Chinese Americans and a statue of Lin Ze Xu. The inscription credits Lin Ze Xu as an early leader in the war against drugs; unfortunately he warred on drugs by confiscating opium from the East India Company in China, who went whining to the British government. This led to the First Opium War (1839-42) which China lost, as the Royal Navy wasn't as weak as Lin Ze Xu thought it was, and ended up with increased sales of East India Company opium in China. And Lin Ze Xu lost his job, largely as a result of not being totally accurate in his reports to the Emperor. Not a total success, overall.
You can read about the Opium Wars at the Old News website.
Copyright Rik Shepherd and Mr Monkey. This page last modified 29 March 2005