ABSTRACT
The war itself was a simple matter of first puncturing the formidable facade of the Celestial Empire with an expeditionary force of 4,000 men, enormously better organized and better equipped than their Chinese counterparts. War was declared by the Indian Government on behalf of the British Crown. War indemnities were to be paid to Britain and France. The settlement provided for a payment of war indemnities, the cession of Hong Kong, the opening of five ports: Shanghai, Ningbo, Guangzhou, Amoy, and Fuzhou to trade, a fixed tariff on imports and exports, and equal positions in official correspondence between the two sides. A Chinese vessel registered at Hong Kong, flying the British flag, was boarded by Ye's soldiers, and this provided the British a pretext for war. The city of Guangzhou was under British occupation for the duration of the war, which was to drag on for another three years.
