Portuguese trade and society in China and the South China Sea, c. 1630–1753, is a topic that attracts little interest among European Expansion and East-Southeast Asian historians. This is unfortunate, since a great deal may be learned about early Sino and Southeast Asian-European relations by analysing Portuguese society in Macao and its diplomatic and economic relations with the Ming-Ch'ing dynasties and with the states within and bordering the South China Sea trading complex. Previous research was preoccupied with the nature of European colonial rivalry and comparisons between differing colonial systems; lamentably, it demonstrated litte interest in examining in detail the institutions of Portuguese society in Macao and their interactions with European and Asian society in a regional context. My research in this field began while an undergraduate honours student at Stanford University in 1971, was stimulated while a Master's degree student in Southeast Asian Area studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies in 1976, and should be completed in early 1980 when submitted as a doctoral dissertation at Trinity College, Cambridge University.

It is customary in the Netherlands to celebrate just about any happy occasion with a speech and a glass of sherry or genever. So when our first volume of essays, Expansion and Reaction, came off press in December, 1977, we invited our friends in the vicinity to hear the then Minister of Development Cooperation J.P.Pronk. We have chosen to print his remarks because they illustrate from what viewpoint government officials view our activities. Pronk is now Professor at the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague and M.P. for the Dutch Labour Party.