Claiming that the Qing government did not fully honour the Treaty of Nanking, Britain renewed her territorial designs on China. In October 1856 the Chinese detained the "Arrow", a lorcha flying the British flag.
Britain started the Second Opium War on this pretext. The murder of a French missionary in Guangxi at this time caused France to join ranks with the British.
Anglo-French forces occupied Guangzhou, took Ye Mingchen, Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, then proceeded north to capture Dagu (Taku).
The Qing government had no alternative but to accept the terms put forward by the British and French, and sign the Treaty of Tientsin.
Credit : History Museum of HK.
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