There are a lot of conversations around Hong Kong vs China and its different ideologies, but long ago, in the 1800s, China lost Hong Kong because it refused to trade Opium with the British. China banned drugs and set heavy punishments for smuggling. But British wanted the sales to happen, that they even planted Opium in Bengal and smuggled it to China’s black market.

The first opium war (1834-1841) was when the British attacked China to enforce the sales of opium. It took over Hong Kong as its primary operating location.

In order to end the war, Hong Kong was given to the British and the Opium trade was enforced. Hong Kong was under the care of the Britain for 156 years before it was handed back in 1997.

Too many generations passed and ideologies and cultures differed over the years. Hong Kong was promised 50 years of self gov’t and freedom of speech when it was handed back to China, which obviously did not happen.

Amidst all the discussions about Bitcoin and illegal drugs, it's easy to overlook the fact that several major drug issues in the world were fueled by governments that supported the drug trade and even resorted to violence to enable it.