During the 1840's, China signed "unequal treaties" with Western nations mainly because

Some here say China was weak, the losers in all wars are the weaker combatant. People here want to act like this was different than other wars but this is just how most wars are fought. One nation is stronger than the other so it forces its will on the weaker nation. An example would be the CCP forcing its will on the people of Tibet. China was the stronger and Tibet was the weaker. Sometimes the weaker nation can prolong these conflicts long enough that it becomes too costly for the stronger nation to continue. Then the weaker nation can get better conditions. China had the advantage of geography, it was very expensive for the foreign nations to fight in China but China had no unity or will. The powers in control cared little about what they had to give up, they figured the Chinese people would pay for the cost. The rules only care was to retain power. But the foreign nations did have superior everything.