This paper analyzes the attempts of Dutch East India Company’s (VOC) to expand into the Pescadores from 1622 to 1624 and how the Ming Dynasty’s counterattacks thwarted these efforts.
The VOC attempted to occupy the Pescadores with three strategic objectives. The first was to secure a trading base to open the Chinese market, the second was to neutralize the trade network of its competitor, Spain, and the third was to secure the labor lacking in Batavia.
The expedition unfolded in two phases. The first phase was the assault on Macao, and the second was the assault on the Pescadores. The assault on the Pescadores was not an alternative to the failed Macao assault; rather, it was a fundamental part of the plan that would proceed regardless of the success or failure of the Macao operation. Following the failure of Macao assault, the successful occupation of the Pescadores became a crucial factor in determining the success or failure of the expedition.
The Batavian government and Cornelis Reijersen, the commander of the expedition, were confident in the occupation of the Pescadores and the opening of the Chinese market. This was because they believed that the Ming Dynasty’s maritime defenses were very weak and that there was a strong desire for trade among Chinese merchants. However, the situation at the time was different from their expectations. Chinese merchants were skeptical of trading with the VOC, and the Ming forces possessed both the willingness and the capability to defend the Pescadores, an important military stronghold, against the VOC.
Contrary to expectations, when negotiations did not proceed smoothly, Reijersen attempted to extract concessions from the Ming Dynasty through active military projection. However, this backfired, prompting the Ming Dynasty to shift its approach from diplomatic negotiations to military retaliation. Reijersen and the Batavian government also anticipated that negotiations would fail and that they would ultimately achieve their objectives through war. However, they did not foresee that the Ming Dynasty would proactively mobilize its military forces to recapture the Pescadores.
The Ming command was aware of their military inferiority. The key to success was for the Ming landing troops to reach the Pescadores without being intercepted by the VOC fleet. Familiar with the geography of the Pescadores, the Ming forces completed an encirclement through cautious troop maneuvers over six months. Faced with the threat of being starved into submission within the encirclement, the VOC expeditionary force had no choice but to abandon the Pescadores and relocate their base to Taiwan. The opening of the Chinese market also became a distant prospect.