Despite the opium outlaw, the British continued to bring the drug into China. This resulted in the Opium Wars which lasted from 1839-1842. The possibility of war was threatened by Lin (leader of China) during the early 1830's when he wrote a letter to Queen Victoria. However, Britain did not see this as a threat and ended up easily defeating the Chinese due to their strong naval forces. The Treaty of Nanjing ends the Opium Wars and results in China losing Hong Kong.
