MelancholicMechanicus
Thought Criminal
The Opium wars wasn't some thing where china was a complete victim, they could have easily avoided it by being a little less arrogant.
China had centuries to grow and slowly reform their monarchy. Instead they were so stuck up their own asses the entire planet moved on and when they finally realized they were not the Celestial Emperors they liked to portray themselves as, it was too late.
If they had taken a moment to realize that maybe, just maybe, they should look outwards a little bit they could have stopped their fall. "Hey, these pale barbarians sure fight a lot. Maybe send some of our generals to watch their petty squabbles would be a fun venture! Oh they sure do love killing each other, lets just make sure we are up to the task of crushing them if they ever try to invade the Middle Kingdom."
Instead their arrogance brought on their hubris. Even when the Emperors and the Nobles started to modernize and push for a little reform the Boxer Rebellion happened, with the peasants themselves trying to crush the progress out of the country.
Britain simply did to China what China did to it's neighbors for thousands of years.