The Pirate Who Forced the British Empire and the Qing Dynasty to Collaborate

Throughout the nineteenth century, relations between the British Empire and the Qing Dynasty were fraught with tension. Yet, in the middle of the century, a common enemy ultimately led the two rivals to collaborate.

Between the two Opium Wars, the pirate Chui A-poo was active in the South China Sea. Operating out of Stanley on southern Hong Kong Island, his fleet disrupted maritime commerce. After killing two British officers in February 1849, Chui fled with his fleet of 50 heavily armed war junks and 1,800 men to Bias Bay in Chinese waters east of Hong Kong, prompting the government to place a £500 bounty on his head.

Because he operated between British and Qing territorial waters, neither government could eliminate him alone. Consequently, the Qing court permitted British warships to patrol Chinese coastal waters to hunt for pirates.

In September 1849, the Royal Navy destroyed dozens of Chui A-poo’s war junks and killed over 400 pirates. Chui fled to Hainan, where he joined fellow pirate Shap Ng-tsai’s fleet as second-in-command. Shortly thereafter, this combined pirate force was destroyed by a joint British and Qing naval expedition.

Although Chui A-poo managed to escape once again, he was betrayed by informants and rival pirates in 1851. They delivered him to the Qing magistrate at Kowloon, who subsequently handed him over to British authorities.

Chui was sentenced to lifelong exile in Van Diemen's Land (modern-day Tasmania). However, he hanged himself in his cell at Victoria Prison before his transportation could take place.