During colonialism, you could buy stocks in companies erecting colonial empires, like the dutch east india company, or the british east india company. They had ships, troops, and actually did engage in trafficking if you can call that, by avoiding the silk road and its large dangers/taxes.
They also engaged in massive transcontinental drug trafficking, and in many cases were vertically integrated. They owned the land/fields, the people/slaves, the plantations, the drug crops/opium poppies, the processing chain, and also the sales, and the troops/armies were used to force people to take/buy drugs. If you refused to buy or take the drugs, they would burn your entire country down to ashes, and of course, enslave the people there to make more drugs.
That’s because nothing has changed except we learned that it is easier to manage regions if you dont annex them and instead let the nearest bystander run the country.
The people there accept it and it is cheaper and you still get the resources for all eternity, which is all you really wanted.
Hong Kong is a geopolitical football because the Mayor of Hong Kong tried to stop a foreign corporation from getting their citizens addicted to drugs.
In accordance with British commercial law, the foreign corporation returned with the British Navy and took it over. And then kept pushing the drugs successfully.
