Foreign Policy
The Ming dynasy supported Muslim Sultanates in South East Asia like the Malacca Sultanate, protecting them from Thailand and the Portuguese, allowing them to prosper. It also supported the Muslim Champa state against Vietnam.
Ming dynasty China warned Thailand and the Majapahit against trying to conquer and attack the Malacca sultanate, placing the Malacca Sultanate under Chinese protection as a protectorate, and giving the ruler of Malacca the title of King. The Chinese strengthened several warehouses in Malacca. The Muslim Sultanate flourished due to the Chinese protection against the Thai and other powers who wanted to attack Malacca. Thailand was also a tributary to China and had to obey China's orders not to attack
In response to the Portuguese Capture of Malacca (1511), the Chinese Imperial Government imprisoned and executed multiple Portuguese envoys after torturing them in Guangzhou. Since Malacca was a tributary state to China, the Chinese responded with violent force against the Portuguese. The Malaccans had informed the Chinese of the Portuguese seizure of Malacca, to which the Chinese responded with hostility toward the Portuguese. The Malaccans told the Chinese of the deception the Portuguese used, disguising plans for conquering territory as mere trading activities, and told of all the atrocities committed by the Portuguese. Malacca was under Chinese protection and the Portuguese invasion angered the Chinese.
Due to the Malaccan Sultan lodging a complaint against the Portuguese invasion to the Chinese Emperor, the Portuguese were greeted with hostility from the Chinese when they arrived in China. The Sultan's complaint caused "a great deal of trouble" to Portuguese in China. The Chinese were very "unwelcoming" to the Portuguese. The Malaccan Sultan, based in Bintan after fleeing Malacca, sent a message to the Chinese, which combined with Portuguese banditry and violent activity in China, led the Chinese authorities to execute 23 Portuguese and torture the rest of them in jails. After the Portuguese set up posts for trading in China and committed piratical activities and raids in China, the Chinese responded with the complete extermination of the Portuguese in Ningbo and Quanzhou Pires, a Portuguese trade envoy, was among those who died in the Chinese dungeons. The rest of the Portuguese embassy stayed imprisoned for life.
The Chinese defeated a Portuguese fleet in 1521 at the First Battle of Tamao (1521), killing and capturing so many Portuguese that the Portuguese had to abandon their junks and retreat with only three ships, only escaping back to Malacca because a wind scattered the Chinese ships as the Chinese launched a final attack.
The Chinese effectively held the Portuguese embassy hostage, using them as a bargaining chip in demanding that the Portuguese restore the deposed Malaccan Sultan (King) to his throne.
The Chinese proceeded to executed several Portuguese by beating and strangling them, and torturing the rest. The other Portuguese prisoners were put into iron chains and kept in prison. The Chinese confisticated all of the Potuguese property and goods in the Pires embassy's possession.
In 1522 Martim Afonso de Merlo Coutinho was appointed commander of another Portuguese fleet sent to establish diplomatic relations. The Chinese defeated the Portuguese ships lead by Coutinho at the Second Battle of Tamao (1522). A large amount of Portuguese were captured and ships destroyed during the battle. The Portuguese were forced to retreat to Malacca.
The Chinese forced Pires to write letters for them, demanding that the Portuguese restore the deposed Malaccan Sultahn (King) back onto his throne. The Malay ambassador to China was to deliver the letter.
The Chinese had sent a message to the deposed Sultan (King) of Malacca concerning the fate of the Portuguese embassy, which the Chinese held prisoner. When they received his reply, the Chinese officials then proceeded to executed the Portuguese embassy, slicing their bodies into multiple pieces. Their genitalia were inserted into the oral cavity. The Portuguese were executed in public in multiple areas in Guangzhou, deliberately by the Chinese in order to show that the Portuguese were insignificant in the eyes of the Chinese. When more Portuguese ships landed and were seized by the Chinese, the Chinese then executed them as well, cutting off the genitalia and beheading the bodies and forcing their fellow Portuguese to wear the body parts, while the Chinese celebrated with music. The genitalia and heads were displayed strung up for display in public, after which they were discarded.
In response to Portuguese piracy and establishing bases in Fujian at Wuyu island and Yue harbor at Zhangzhou, Shuangyu island in Wenzhou, and Nan'ao island in Guangdong, the Imperial Chinese Right Deputy Commander Zhu Wang exterminated all the pirates and razedthe Shuangyu Portuguese base, using force to prohibit trading with foreigners by sea.
Read more about this topic: Islam During The Ming Dynasty
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