In the early years since Christianity was introduced to China， itwas not only restricted in various forms by the Qing government，but was also unknown to the vast majority of Chinese people.
Therefore， it developed with great difficulty and achieved littleprogress. To break the deadlock， missionaries did not hesitate toresort to some non-religious means to facilitate their activities.
The main features of their work during this period were asfollows：
1） With the shared goal of forcing China"s dooropen， missionaries， businessmen and diplomatsjoined hands to carry out invasive activities.
To force China"s door open， missionaries were doingmissionary work for the churches on the one hand and servingthe cause of the colonialist invasion on the other. They bore manyresponsibilities and played different roles on different occasions.
For example， as already noted， Charles Gutzlaff， the German missionary， had dressed like a sailor and gone to north China toscout for information many times， and when the Opium Warbegan， he simply devoted himself to working as the interpreterand guide for the commander of the British invading army. Inthe spring of 1842， when the British army occupied Ningbo andZhoushan， he was appointed governor of the local administration.
He went to Shanghai soon after the British army seized it. Onbehalf of the British army， he issued notices to reassure the publicand extorted as much as 300，000 taels of silver from the thenShanghai governor for redemption of the city. In June of thatyear， he took part in the seizure of Zhenjiang after the invadershad previously failed many times in their attacks. In the peacetalks between the British government and the Qing government，he participated in the drafting and signing of the unequal NanjingTreaty. In the next year， he acted as translator when China andthe U.S. signed their first unequal treaty-the Xiamen Treaty. ManyAmerican missionaries who came to China in the 1830s， likeBridgman and Parker， also published their remarks preachingthe use of force and advocating an aggressive war. At the end of1834， when diplomatic relations between China and Britaincollapsed， all English businessmen in Guangzhou petitioned theBritish King to send troops to China to threaten the Qing government to open up Ningbo and Xiamen as trade ports. Atthat time， Bridgman wrote articles repeatedly in the China CongNews to express his support for their petitions. He said： "If allcountries fail in persuading China， then it should be forced totake our rights and interests as its duty‘。 In his words， the openingof China"s door to the invaders had become a duty of China anda right of foreign countries！ He also said： "As far as China"s attitudeis concerned， no government can treat it politely without the useof force‘。 One year later， the confrontation between the twocountries was even tenser. An article entitled Signing Treaties with China - An Urgent and Important Requirement waspublished in China Cong News， clearly proposing to forciblycompel China to sign treaties. In the notes added to the article，Bridgman said China was a weak country with vast lands and aregiment of British army could defeat several provinces‘ Chinesetroops. So， guns should be used to back up negotiation. After theoutbreak of the Opium War， he wrote about the war as well asthe political negotiation， flagrantly announcing that "the time isup and China must give in or be conquered.‘ Another missionarynamed David Abeel who came to China along with Bridgmanalso trumpeted that war was "the God"s means to prize China"sdoor open‘。 Nevins， who was from the North AmericanPresbyterian Church and who had reached China in 1854， alsomade it clear that "no matter if this war is just or not， it is endorsedby God to open a new epoch for our relationship with China‘。
Parker， an American missionary and doctor， also served the U.S.government cordially. When the war broke out， he was in theU.S. on leave. He launched a series of political activities andsubmitted to the U.S. State Department a report on the situationin China， recommending the U.S. government to take advantageof the conflicts between China and Britain. He thought it was agolden opportunity for the U.S. to get involved， and "Chinese people"s trust on the U.S. probably exceed their trust on othercountries‘。 His report drew the close attention of the U.S. Secretaryof State， who promptly sent him to Britain and France to find outtheir true intentions regarding China. In December 1842， theNanjing Treaty between China and Britain was already signedand five ports including Guangzhou had been forced open.
