THE ROLE OF TONKIN AND TAIWAN IN THE ENGLISH EAST INDIA COMPANY’S EAST ASIAN COMMERCIAL STRATEGY IN THE LATE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY: A COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE

• Authors: Tran Ngoc Dung
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

In 1672, the English East India Company set up factories in Taiwan and Tonkin. The Taiwan factory lasted only for 11 years (1672 – 1683), but the Tonkin branch operated for 25 years (1672 – 1697). Both factories had a similar role in the English East Asian commercial strategy as they served as intermediaries for trading indirectly with mainland China and Japan. Initially, the two factories were established to support English trade in Japan. However, when that plan failed, they mainly helped the English to collect Chinese products indirectly, and they were used as gateways to trade with mainland China. This article argues that the English factories in Taiwan and Tonkin played a noticeable role in maintaining the English East Asian trade in the late seventeenth century. They worked as intermediaries to maintain the Company’s position and expansion in East Asia by connecting with the key markets of Japan and mainland China. Additionally, the English used small factories such as Taiwan and Tonkin in this period as a way of adapting to the special trading conditions in East Asia, where key markets were difficult to access. Moreover, the article also presents the ways in which the EIC used its overseas factories in East Asia to maintain and expand its trade there.

Keywords

EN

TONKIN; NORTHERN VIETNAM; TAIWAN; ENGLISH EAST INDIA COMPANY; EAST ASIAN TRADE; JAPAN; CHINA

• Publisher: Institute of Oriental Studies, Slovak Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Asian and African Studies
• Year: 2024
• Volume: 33
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 97 - 116

Contributors

author

Tran Ngoc Dung

• Institute of International Relations Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, 135 Nguyen Phong Sac st., Dich Vong Hau, Cau Giay, Hanoi, Vietnam

• https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9631-1097

Identifiers

DOI

https://doi.org/10.31577/aassav.2024.33.1.04