"I don't mean to sound bitter, cold or cruel, but I am, so that's how it comes out"
- Bill Hicks
Posted by: LeSieg
There's a large amount of history and reason behind Britain's conquest of India being the more sensible option compared to China. China is massive and nearly every country wanted a piece of it.
The height of the British Empire was in the late 1800s, China didn't become economically modern until the 1970s, and only economically significant in the 90s. They would have had to sink tons of resources and wait a looonnnggg time for a return on that investment assuming the only change in history was that China was under British rule (but still somehow controlled by the Communist Party).
This
We were better off just trading a -blam!- ton of opium in China than trying to subjugate it.
We still got plenty of other trade out of China too and, I believe, are the only foreign power to bring it's Emperor to heel. We did have to destroy one of the most wonderful man made structures ever made to do so though which, unsurprisingly, got the British High Commissioner to China at the time, Lord Elgin, labelled as a barbarian by history
[Edited on 12.20.2012 8:39 AM PST]