17. The British attacked the Chinese after they seized a ship under suspicion of piracy
In the fall of 1856, the Chinese detained a merchant vessel named Arrow in Canton, arresting 12 men of its crew, all of whom were Chinese. Two others, including its captain, were released. The British Consul in Canton, Harry Parkes, interviewed the captain and learned (he later claimed) that although the ship’s registration as British (at Hong Kong) had expired, it had been flying a British flag when it was seized, and that the flag had been removed by the Chinese troops which arrested the crew. Parkes protested to the Qing authorities, claimed the crew had been under the protection of the British flag, and demanded their immediate release.
Nine of the men were released, the other three were held on charges of piracy. But the Qing government refused to acknowledge insulting the British flag, and thus did not issue the apology demanded by Parkes. On October 23, the British destroyed the barrier forts, and on October 29 began to bombard the city of Canton. The home of the Qing representative was protected by the American consul displaying the flag of the United States on its walls. Intermittent bombardments continued until January 1857, when the British withdrew to Hong Kong. It was the start of the Second Opium War.