Geography of China Japanese junior high textbook minimized the atrocities of Nanjing stating that the massacre was an "incident". The textbooks transgression sent thousands of Chinese citizens out to protest and three weeks of state sanctioned protest led to rising tensions between Japan and China. Due to the opium wars between the British from 1839 to 1842, the British were able to make demands to the Chinese government before removing blockades and stopping bombardment on key ports. The Chinese agreed to cede the island of Hong Kong which in the control of the British, witnessed phenomenal growth. The population grew from 1,500 to
Foreign relations of China threat from both domestic and international sources. Social unrest and serious revolts became more common while the regular army had decayed into an ineffective force. Chinese leaders increasingly feared the impact of Western ideas. After 1724 Christian propaganda was prohibited, and after 1757 international trade was confined to the port of Canton under the strictly limited Canton System. European commercial interests sought to end the trading barriers, but China fended off repeated efforts by Britain to reform the trading system. Increasing sales of Indian opium to China by British traders led to the First Opium War (1839–1842). The superiority of