I'm taking a class at Uni about piracy, in a historical/social context. The general theme is that when they weren't state sanctioned pivateers, they were something resembling "freedom fighters" (very loose application of the term here), and the opium wars seem to be a prime target for piracy. Being that both Opium, and Tea would be high value targets, it could attack the UK directly, and the fact that the trade routes either went through the Mediterranean, or the horn of Africa, into the Indian ocean, and then the Chinese coast.

I understand that this took place several decades after the "golden age of piracy", and that may be a factor, but it seems to me that piracy should at least have been a big enough factor for me not to have to ask this question.