This article examines British foreign policy during the period from 1940 to the end of 1946, particularly with reference to the establishment of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs. A related question of opium in Burma is also taken into consideration.
In November 1943, Britain announced that it would prohibit opium smoking in its territories liberated from Japan. Burma became a focus of attention for several reasons. Firstly, it had been under Japanese occupation since May 1942. Secondly, efforts to reduce opium consumption had been very limited in British Burma during the 1930s, while in other British colonies (including the Straits Settlements) at least some efforts had been made. Opium was used for quasi-medical and religious purposes in the mountainous border regions in Burma. These regions were difficult to reach, and only indirect and limited colonial government administration and control existed there.
Britain made a tremendous contribution to the establishment of the United Nations and the Commission on Narcotic Drugs. However, it was highly likely that British opium policy would be severely criticised by both China and the United States at this newly established Commission unless the control of opium was increased in Burma after its liberation from Japan. This prospect induced Britain to outlaw opium in Burma in 1946.
Two terms coined by Winston Churchill are often used to describe post-war British foreign policy. One is “three circles.” Churchill considered that Britain stood at the intersection of three circles of influence:namely Europe, the Empire and the English-speaking world. The period analysed in this article is earlier than the coinage of this term. In the process of making policy relating to opium and the Empire, while Britain did not have to think much about Europe, it did have to consider the crucial role of the United States.
The other term coined by Churchill is the “special relationship” between the English-speaking countries. As far as the opium question was concerned, however, another special relationship seems to have existed between China and the United States; the United States accepted everything that Chinese diplomats stated about opium during the period considered. Although Britain had information about opium in places such as Yunnan in China, and knew that the true situation in Yunnan was very different from that presented by the Chinese diplomats (who spoke English fluently), it did not insist on exposing the discrepancy; instead, Britain even offered China the opportunity of playing a significant role in establishing the Commission on Narcotic Drugs. This seems to be mainly because Britain wanted to create and maintain this “special relationship” between itself and the United States.