8. The Chinese demanded all British traders sign a bond they would not deal in opium
When Lin demanded that all traders sign an agreement not to trade in opium – on pain of death if violated – Elliot banned British traders from signing it. In the fall of 1839, a British ship owned by Quakers entered Canton, and negotiated its own trade agreement with the governor (the Chinese knew the owners opposed the opium trade on moral grounds). Elliot considered the act as flaunting his authority as trade superintendent and ordered a blockade of the Pearl River, preventing other British ships from following the precedent established by the Quakers. On November 3, another British ship, Royal Saxon, attempted to enter Canton.
The blockading ships fired warning shots at Royal Saxon, and armed junks sortied to protect the British merchant ship from the British Navy. The resulting naval battle saw the destruction of four junks. The British then moved their ships to Macau, where they were denied the right to unload cargo by the Portuguese authorities there. In January, 1840, the Daoguang Emperor issued another edict, which asked foreign merchants of all nations to cease providing material assistance to the British, including the sale of food and other necessities. The same month, Queen Victoria told the British Parliament, “Events have happened in China which have occasioned an interruption of the commercial intercourse of my subjects with that country. I have given, and shall continue to give, the most serious attention to a matter so deeply affecting the interests of my subjects and the dignity of my Crown.”