Well it wasn't good for us unless you count all the money we made out of it before they started fighting back.

The British people certainly didn't make a lot of money from that. One person did.

But blaming whole countries for the actions of single entrepreneurs has been the MO for a very long time now, so I can see how you feel correct making that statement

What benefit did the British people - or the British state - get out of this at any point? Jardine Matheson didn't exactly pay many taxes at the time or employ many people in the UK.