China–Portugal relations
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

China–Portugal relations ( pt, Relações entre a República Portuguesa e a República Popular da China or Relações China-Portugal, ), can be traced back all the way to 1514 during the
Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
of China. Relations between the modern political entities of the
People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
and the
Portuguese Republic Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of the ...
officially began on 2 February 1979.China and Portugal
Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...
, 12 October 2003
China and Portugal established the comprehensive strategic partnership in 2005. Despite Portugal's relatively small economy and global influence compared to China, the Chinese government has expressed interest in developing relations with Portugal, granting the nation a similar treatment to other major European countries. Both nations maintain friendly relations, which is due to three main reasons- the first being the Portuguese handover of Macau in 1999, the second being the Portuguese prominence in the
Lusophone Lusophones ( pt, Lusófonos) are ethnic group, peoples that speak Portuguese language, Portuguese as a native language, native or as common second language and nations where Portuguese features prominently in society. Comprising an estimated 270 m ...
, which includes nations China wishes to promote relations with, and third being the extensive history of Portuguese presence in Asia.


History


First Sino-Portuguese Contact

Sino-Portuguese relations began when
Jorge Álvares Jorge Álvares (died 8 July 1521) was a Portuguese explorer. He is credited as the first European to have reached China by sea during the Age of Discovery. His starting of settlements on an island in what is now Hong Kong is still considered a sign ...
arrived in the southern city of
Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
in 1513. Around then, Portugal established trading activities in what is now known as Southern China, gradually expanded into
Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...
and paid rent to the
Ming Empire The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peop ...
. The first official Portuguese visit was
Fernão Pires de Andrade Captain Fernão Pires de Andrade (also spelled as Fernão Peres de Andrade; in contemporary sources, Fernam (Fernã) Perez Dandrade) (died 1552) was a Portuguese merchant, pharmacist, and official diplomat under the explorer and Portuguese Mal ...
mission to Guangzhou (1517–1518) during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). It was fairly successful, and the local Chinese authorities allowed the embassy, led by
Tomé Pires Tomé Pires (1465?–1524 or 1540)Madureira, 150–151. was a Portuguese apothecary from Lisbon who spent 1512 to 1515 in Malacca immediately after the Portuguese conquest, at a time when Europeans were only first arriving in Southeast As ...
and brought by de Andrade's flotilla, to proceed to
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
. Tomé Pires' impression of the Chinese was that they were "white like us 'brancos como nós'' the greater part of them dressing in cotton cloth and
silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...
". His full account also compares them to the Germans and the women whom he describes as "of our whiteness" and similar in appearance to Spanish ladies. The term ′China′ was actually employed in 1516 by the Portuguese travel writer Duarte Barbosa. Afterwards, the word ′China′ occurs in several languages: as ''China'' in Italy, as ''Chine'' in France, and in English as ''China''.
Duarte Barbosa Duarte Barbosa (c. 14801 May 1521) was a Portuguese writer and officer from Portuguese India (between 1500 and 1516). He was a Christian pastor and scrivener in a '' feitoria'' in Kochi, and an interpreter of the local language, Malayalam. Barbo ...
(1480–1521) gives a similar account of Chinese people: "great merchants, white men and well-made 'huomini bianchi, grandi & ben disposti'' their women are very beautiful but both the men and women have small eyes, and the men's beards contain only three or four hairs and no more". Relations between the Portuguese and Chinese soured when Fernão's brother Simão de Andrade arrived with a fleet at Guangzhou in 1519. He disregarded the country's laws and customs and built a fort on Tamão Island under the pretext of a threat of piracy. He built a
gallows A gallows (or scaffold) is a frame or elevated beam, typically wooden, from which objects can be suspended (i.e., hung) or "weighed". Gallows were thus widely used to suspend public weighing scales for large and heavy objects such as sacks ...
there and executed one of his own sailors there for some offense, which greatly offended the local Chinese authorities. He attacked a Chinese official who protested against the Portuguese captain's demands that his vessels should take precedence in trade with China before those from other countries. The most offensive action however was Simão's engagement in the slave trade and the purchase of Chinese children for sale abroad.Wills, 338. False rumours spread that the disappearing children were cannibalised after they had been roasted by the Portuguese. As a result, the Chinese posted an edict banning men with Caucasian features from entering Canton. The Chinese responded by killing multiple Portuguese in Canton and drove the Portuguese back to sea. After the Sultan of Bintan detained several Portuguese, The Chinese then executed 23 members of Tomé Pires' ill-fated embassy, and threw the rest into prison where they resided in squalid, sometimes fatal conditions. After the Portuguese bribed their way into obtaining a trade mission in
Ningbo Ningbo (; Ningbonese: ''gnin² poq⁷'' , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly romanized as Ningpo, is a major sub-provincial city in northeast Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises 6 urban districts, 2 sate ...
and
Quanzhou Quanzhou, postal map romanization, alternatively known as Chinchew, is a prefecture-level city, prefecture-level port city on the north bank of the Jin River, beside the Taiwan Strait in southern Fujian, China. It is Fujian's largest metrop ...
, they inflicted savage behaviour against the Chinese, and raided the Chinese ports. In retaliation, in 1545 the entire Portuguese community of Ningbo were exterminated by Chinese forces. (the University of Michigan) (the University of Michigan) (the University of California) The Portuguese began trading in Ningbo around 1522. By 1542, the Portuguese had a sizable community in Ningbo (or, more likely, on nearby small islands). Portuguese activities from their Ningbo base included pillaging and attacking multiple Chinese port cities around Ningbo for plunder and spoil. They also enslaved people during their raids. The resulting complaints made it to the province's governor who commanded the settlement destroyed in 1548. The later antagonism of Chinese toward foreigners was a result of the "reprehensible" behavior of first Portuguese who made contact. Though the frequency of Portuguese piracy was not comparable to the surge in Wokou attacks experienced after the Ming Dynasty attempted to enforce its Haijin policy. However, with gradual improvement of relations and aid given against the
Wokou ''Wokou'' (; Japanese: ''Wakō''; Korean: 왜구 ''Waegu''), which literally translates to "Japanese pirates" or "dwarf pirates", were pirates who raided the coastlines of China and Korea from the 13th century to the 16th century.Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...
in a new Portuguese trade colony. The Malay
Sultanate of Johor The Johor Sultanate ( ms, Kesultanan Johor or ; also called the Sultanate of Johor, Johor-Pahang, or the Johor Empire) was founded by Malaccan Sultan Mahmud Shah's son, Sultan Alauddin Riayat Shah II in 1528. Johor was part of the Malaccan ...
also improved relations with the Portuguese and fought alongside them against the
Aceh Sultanate The Sultanate of Aceh, officially the Kingdom of Aceh Darussalam ( ace, Keurajeuën Acèh Darussalam; Jawoë: كاورجاون اچيه دارالسلام), was a sultanate centered in the modern-day Indonesian province of Aceh. It was a major ...
.


Sino-Malay alliance against Portugal

The Malay
Malacca Sultanate The Malacca Sultanate ( ms, Kesultanan Melaka; Jawi script: ) was a Malay sultanate based in the modern-day state of Malacca, Malaysia. Conventional historical thesis marks as the founding year of the sultanate by King of Singapura, Parames ...
was a tributary state and ally to
Ming Dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
China. In 1511, Portugal conquered Malacca, a Chinese tributary state, and the Chinese responded with force against Portugal. The Chinese government imprisoned and executed multiple Portuguese envoys after it had tortured them in
Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
. The Malaccans had informed the Chinese of the Portuguese seizure of Malacca, and the Chinese responded with hostility toward the Portuguese. The Malaccans told the Chinese of the deception that the Portuguese had used by disguising plans for conquering territory as mere trading activities and told of all the atrocities committed by the Portuguese. The Malaccan Sulatan had been swayed by the international Muslim trading community that the Portuguese posed a grave threat after their capture of Goa. Denied the right to trade and attacked by the Malaccan authorities, the Portuguese resorted to force in Malacca, as in India, to establish themselves as a trading power. The Malaccan Sultan's lodging of a complaint against the Portuguese invasion to the Chinese Emperor made the Portuguese greeted with hostility from the Chinese when they arrived in China. 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 to torture the rest of them in jails. After the Portuguese had set up posts for trading in China and committed raids in China, the Chinese responded by completely exterminating the Portuguese in
Ningbo Ningbo (; Ningbonese: ''gnin² poq⁷'' , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly romanized as Ningpo, is a major sub-provincial city in northeast Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises 6 urban districts, 2 sate ...
and
Quanzhou Quanzhou, postal map romanization, alternatively known as Chinchew, is a prefecture-level city, prefecture-level port city on the north bank of the Jin River, beside the Taiwan Strait in southern Fujian, China. It is Fujian's largest metrop ...
) Pires, a Portuguese trade envoy, was among those who died in the Chinese dungeons. The Chinese defeated a Portuguese fleet at the First Battle of Tamão (1521), killing and capturing so many Portuguese that they had to abandon their junks and retreat with only three ships and escaped back to Malacca only because a wind scattered the Chinese ships as the Chinese launched a final attack. The Chinese effectively held the Portuguese embassy hostage and used it as a bargaining chip to demand the Portuguese to restore the deposed Malaccan Sultan (King) to his throne. The Chinese proceeded to execute several Portuguese by beating and strangling them and by torturing the rest. The other Portuguese prisoners were put into iron chains and kept in prison. The Chinese confiscated all of the Portuguese property and goods in the Pires embassy's possession. In 1522, Martim Afonso de Melo Coutinho was appointed commander of another Portuguese fleet sent to establish diplomatic relations. The Chinese defeated the Portuguese ships led by Coutinho at the Second Battle of Tamão (1522). Many 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 that demanded the Portuguese to restore the deposed Malaccan Sultahn back to 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 on the fate of the Portuguese embassy, which the Chinese held prisoner. When they received his reply, the Chinese officials proceeded to executed the Portuguese embassy by 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 Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
deliberately by the Chinese to show that the Portuguese were insignificant in their eyes. When more Portuguese ships landed and were seized by the Chinese, the Chinese then executed them as well by 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, and they were then discarded. In response to Portuguese and their establishment of bases in Fujian at Wuyu island and Yue Harbour at Zhangzhou,
Shuangyu Shuangyu () was a port on Liuheng Island () off the coast of Zhejiang, China. During the 16th century, the port served as an illegal entrepôt of international trade, attracting traders from Japan, Southeast Asia, and Portugal in a time when priv ...
Island in Wenzhou and Nan'ao Island in Guangdong, the Imperial Chinese Right Deputy Commander
Zhu Wan Zhu Wan (; September 29, 1494 – January 2, 1550), courtesy name Zichun () and art name Qiuya (), was a Chinese general of the Ming dynasty. He was known for his uncompromising stance against the Jiajing wokou pirates (so named because they ra ...
exterminated Traders and settlers and forcibly razed the Shuangyu Portuguese base to prohibit trading with foreigners by sea. Chinese traders boycotted Malacca after it fell under Portuguese control, and some Chinese in
Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...
assisted in Muslim attempts to reconquer the city from Portugal by using ships. The Java Chinese participation in failed attempted to conquer the Portuguese Malacca was recorded in "The Malay Annals of Semarang and Cerbon" trading the Chinese did business with Malays and Javanese instead of the Portuguese. Hostility from the Chinese because of trafficking in Chinese slaves caused a 1595 law to be passed by Portugal that banned selling and buying of Chinese slaves. On 19 February 1624, the King of Portugal forbade the enslavement of Chinese of either sex.


The deliverance of Macau

Finally, in the early 1550s, the Canton authorities recognized the strategic importance of the “frangues” - these strange barbarians, from far away, skilled in trade, effective in war, but few in number. Gradually, they proved to be useful and less threatening. Disorganized people, acting privately, the adventurers of the China Sea gained negotiating power when the Crown intervened in the Sino-Japanese business and monopolized the China - Japan route. The nobleman Leonel de Sousa arrived in the region in 1553 and managed to negotiate with the mandarins on behalf of all the Portuguese. In 1554, authorization was finally obtained for the establishment at the mouth of the Pearl River, ten years after they began to deal with silver and silk.


Qing dynasty's Ningbo massacre of Portuguese settlers

During the
Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
, the Ningbo authorities contracted Cantonese pirates to exterminate and massacre Portuguese who raided Cantonese shipping around Ningbo in the 1800s. The massacre was "successful", with 40 Portuguese dead and only 2 Chinese dead. It was dubbed the " Ningpo massacre" by an English correspondent, who noted that the Portuguese pirates had behaved savagely towards the Chinese and that the Portuguese authorities at Macau should have hindered the pirates.


Chinese Piracy

The decline of authority of the
Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
allowed the rise of numerous pirate groups, active around the commercially important
Pearl River Delta The Pearl River Delta Metropolitan Region (PRD; ; pt, Delta do Rio das Pérolas (DRP)) is the low-lying area surrounding the Pearl River estuary, where the Pearl River flows into the South China Sea. Referred to as the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Mac ...
, that captured trade vessels, assaulted seaside populations or forced them to pay tribute, but did not interfere with European shipping initially. The most important of these pirate groups became the Red Flag Fleet which, under the leadership of Cheung Po Tsai, had clashed with Portuguese vessels in 1805, but in May 1807 suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of Portuguese lieutenant Pereira Barreto, commanding a two-ship squadron. After being defeated several times by the Portuguese Navy, on April 20, ''Quan Apon Chay'' formally delivered his fleet and weapons, which now numbered about 280 ships, 2,000 guns and over 25,000 men. The Portuguese claimed naught, which greatly impressed the Chinese. Cheung Po Tsai would in the future make formal visits to the ''Leal Senado'' of Macau to meet several of the Portuguese officers present at the fighting, among them Gonçalves Carocha.


Modern era

As China underwent turbulent times in the 19th and the 20th centuries, Portugal maintained its colony in
Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...
by stationing its troops, refusing to pay rent and opposing the ruling
Qing Empire The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
. In 1939,
Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...
described Portugal as a "miserable little country" in his book "The Chinese Revolution and the Chinese Communist Party". With the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, formal diplomatic relations were not officially instated until 1979, after the
Carnation Revolution The Carnation Revolution ( pt, Revolução dos Cravos), also known as the 25 April ( pt, 25 de Abril, links=no), was a military coup by left-leaning military officers that overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo regime on 25 April 1974 in Lisbo ...
in Portugal had begun
decolonization Decolonization or decolonisation is the undoing of colonialism, the latter being the process whereby imperial nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas. Some scholars of decolonization focus especially on separatism, in ...
. The Chinese government viewed Macau as Chinese territory under Portuguese administration. Relations between Portugal and China began to improve as talks in relation to Macau's future were conducted and final agreement reach to return Macau to Chinese sovereignty in 1999. After Macau returned to China, Portugal's ties with China have largely been cultural and economic exchanges.


Bilateral relations

Trade between the two countries have increased since the resolution of the longstanding issue of Macau's future and the economic reforms of
Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. After CC ...
in the early 1980s. In 2002, trade between the two countries was valued at $380 million. China's exports to Portugal are textile goods, garments, shoes, plastics, acoustic equipment, steel materials, ceramic goods and lighting equipment. China is Portugal's ninth-largest trading partner. Portugal's exports to China are electric condensers and accessory parts, primary plastics, paper, medicinal, textile goods and wine. Portugal participated in Shanghai's
Expo 2010 Expo 2010, officially the Expo 2010 Shanghai China, was held on both banks of the Huangpu River in Shanghai, China, from 1 May to 31 October 2010. It was a major World Expo registered by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), in the t ...
to boost bilateral trade further.


Contemporary cultural exchanges

During the celebration of the Year of the Rooster, the Chinese
Lunar New Year Lunar New Year is the beginning of a calendar year whose months are moon cycles, based on the lunar calendar or lunisolar calendar. The Lunar New Year as a celebration is observed by numerous cultures. It is also named " Chinese New Year" becau ...
that fell on 28 January 2017, a huge rooster, the symbol of Portugal, created by famous Portuguese artist
Joana Vasconcelos Joana Vasconcelos (born 1971) is a Portuguese artist known for her large-scale installations. Biography Vasconcelos was born in 1971 in Paris, France. Her family returned home to Portugal after their exile to France and following the Carnation ...
, was ferried to China from
Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
to congratulate the Chinese with New Year greetings."A Bite of Chinese Culture in Portugal"
Macau Daily Times The ''Macau Daily Times'' () is one of the two daily English-language newspapers published in Macau, launched on June 1, 2007. Overview The paper started life among one English and several Chinese and Portuguese language newspapers. It consis ...
, 7 December 2017


Further reading

* Fernandes, J.P.T. Chinese economic diplomacy regarding Portugal: promoting business or concealing geopolitical ambitions?. Int Polit (2020).


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * *


External links


Ministério dos Negócios Estrangeiros

Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Republic of Portugal
{{DEFAULTSORT:China-Portugal relations
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
Bilateral relations of Portugal