China had been in contact with Western civilization since the Roman times but until the arrival of European merchants in the sixteenth century, relations between the countries was mainly conducted through Christian missionaries and was only sporadic . After the arrival of the Portuguese in the sixteenth century westerners conducted trade in China under very strict conditions. The Macartney mission of 1793 was Britain's first major attempt to ascertain equal diplomatic relations and free trade between the two nations. China completely rejected the Macartney mission and all following attempts by the Western powers to conduct equal foreign relations and it was this which eventually caused the outbreak of war in 1839. Christopher Condon argues that during 1793 China viewed itself as the superpower of the world and carried out its affairs with almost complete ignorance of other nations despite indications that it was technically backwards. He argues that the people of China...