Sino-Spanish conflicts

The Sino-Spanish conflicts were a series of conflicts between the Spanish authorities of the Spanish Empire and its Sangley Chinese residents in Spanish Philippines between the 16th and 18th centuries, which led to massacres of the local Sangley Chinese residents due to generalized Anti-Chinese paranoia by the then ruling Spanish governor-generals.

Origin of the conflict
The Moro Sultanate of Sulu wanted to become a protectorate of China because of the Spanish Empire, but the ethnic Manchu Kangxi Emperor opposed fighting Spain and rejected this proposal. Koxinga, ruler of newly founded Kingdom of Tungning, and his son Zheng Jing threatened to invade the Spanish Philippines in retaliation for the Sangley Massacre (1662), forcing the Spanish to permanently lose their Maluku Islands colony and withdraw from Mindanao's Zamboanga Peninsula for decades. In the 18th century 4,000 ethnic Han Chinese residents joined the Moros to fight the Spanish and ethnic Chinese merchants shipped guns to the Moros in the late 19th century.

Koxinga's death stopped the initial planned invasion of Spanish Philippines, but his son Zheng Jing forced Spain to pay tribute to him in Taiwan and to grant him extrajudicial rights over the Chinese community in Manila, and forbade the Spanish to proselytize their religion to the Chinese residents. Spanish Governor-General Manuel de León and Queen-Regent Mariana were unable to resist him as Zheng Jing prepared to invade himself.

The Kingdom of Tungning did not threaten the Spanish Empire nor Spanish interests. King Philip IV of Spain therefore saw no reason to attack it and upset a fragile status quo that he sought to maintain.

The Spanish garrison in Manila was in terrible condition and both the English and Dutch East India companies said that if Zheng Jing had followed through with his planned invasion in 1671 after the monsoon season, he would have won.

On July 27, 1713, the tribunal, acting in a legislative capacity, decreed that within thirty days "all Moros, Armenians, Malabars, Chinese and other enemies of the Holy Faith" should be lodged in the Parián when visiting Manila, or when living there temporarily for purposes of visit or trade. Penalties were also prescribed for infractions.

Governor-General Gómez Pérez Dasmariñas was killed by the 250 Chinese rowers he forced to row his galley in 1593.

Chinese-Spanish friction began with the Chinese rebellion of P'an Ho Wu in 1593, according to the Ming Annals.

After the assassination of the governor, the Chinese crew took possession of the ship and its valuables and proceeded to Annan. Lei Mao Lin (Luis Pérez Dasmariñas), son of Gomez, went to China to ask indemnity for the murder of his father, but did not get any satisfaction.

1603 revolt
In 1603 three Chinese mandarins arrived in Manila, saying they had been sent by the emperor 267 to investigate a report of a mountain of gold in Cavite. The Spaniards were distrustful, suspecting these men of coming to spy out the situation and fortifications of the city, and thought that the story of the mountain of gold was merely a ruse for trying to find out how easily Manila could be taken. So alarmed were government officials that after the mandarins left they took measures to improve their defenses. These preparations in turn aroused the suspicions of Chinese residents in Manila, who feared the Spaniards were about to massacre them and rose in revolt. In Tondo and Quiapo they set fire to buildings and massacred natives, since there were few Spaniards in Manila. To put down the revolt, 130 or 150 Spaniards under Luis Dasmariñas marched against the rebels, but were defeated and nearly all killed. Then Chinese rebels stormed Intramuros, the old walled city, but were repulsed and driven to San Pablo del Monte. There they were attacked by a large force of Spaniards and Filipinos, and twenty-three thousand of them perished in the fight."

Many Chinese residents fled the country or to the countryside. The Spaniards, fearing a plot began to threaten them.

On the night of October 3, 1603, the Chinese population of Manila, nearly 25,000 in number, rose in revolt. A force of one hundred and fifty men attacked the Chinese residents. All but four of the Spaniards were killed. At dawn, October 5, the rebels attacked the walled city. The fight lasted several days. Every Spaniard, including the friars, armed himself and fought.

Finally the Spaniards, with the aid of some Japanese residents and Pampangos, drove away the Chinese residents, who fled to the mountains of San Pablo. Here a large force of Spaniards and native Filipinos surrounded and besieged them. Hunger and attacks of the natives, who hated the Chinese residents, caused the death of about 23,000.

1639 revolt
After the first Sangley Rebellion in 1603, conditions for the Chinese residents in Manila returned to some degree of normalcy for a time. However as the ethnic Chinese population continued to prosper, they incurred heavier restrictions from the Spanish. Although they were exempt from labour and petty personal dues required of the natives, the Chinese residents had to pay a license fee of 8 pesos per year with additional extortion and harassment from sellers. They were also subject to population control in addition to the license fee, with an idealized limit of 6,000, but in reality the Chinese population in 1620s and 1630s ranged from 15,000 to 21,000. The Chinese residents petitioned the king of Spain for self-government but this was rejected in 1630. As the Chinese population continued to swell, reaching 33,000-45,000 by 1639, they entered other industries such as farming. They were laborers on their own in outlying areas, employed on estates of religious orders, or used as farm labor in forced settlement projects. This large rural Chinese population rebelled again in 1639, resulting in another massacre.

The rebellion of 1639 occurred in rural Luzon where most of the rebels came from. It started at Calamba, where several thousand Chinese residents had been coerced to settle and forced to pay substantial rent to the Spanish. It was a very unhealthy place and about 300 of them had already died by the time of the rebellion on 20 November. The rebels advanced towards Manila and by 22 November, had taken the San Pedro Macati Church on the eastern outskirts of the city. The Chinatown was only briefly occupied by them. Although well-organized, the rebellion was poorly armed and could not stand up to the Spanish and Filipino forces, which routed them upon their arrival. However uprisings were reported in other areas as well and from 26 November to 2 December, the Chinese residents controlled the north bank of the Pasig River

On 2 December, the Chinese settlement revolted and started fires. The Spanish began firing on the Chinese rebels from the city walls. On 5 December, the Spanish ordered the execution of any Chinese resident that could be found, with a reward for each Chinese head. The Chinese residents were systematically rounded up and killed ten at a time. In total some 17,000 to 22,000 Chinese residents were slaughtered. Some Chinese residents fled to the mountains but were eventually dislodged. Around 6,000-7,000 Chinese residents held out on the eastern shore of Laguna de Bay until 15 March 1640, when they were surrounded and forced to surrender

1662 Sangley massacre
Koxinga resolved to conquer the Philippines and summoned the Italian Dominican missionary Vittorio Riccio, who had been living in Fujian province, and in the spring of 1662 dispatched him as an ambassador to the governor of the Philippines to demand the submission of the archipelago.

Manila was thrown into a terrible panic by this demand; no such danger had threatened the Spanish in the Philippines since the invasion of Limahong. Koxinga of the Kingdom of Tungning had an innumerable army, and their armament, stores, and navy had been greatly augmented by the surrender of the Dutch in Taiwan. Governor Sabiniano Manrique de Lara however returned a defiant answer to Koxinga and adopted measures to put the colony in a state of defense.

The Moluccas were forsaken and never again recovered by Spaniards. The presidios of Zamboanga and Cuyo were abandoned. Spanish troops were concentrated in Manila, whose fortifications were rebuilt, and the population waited anxiously for the attack. But the blow never fell.

Koxinga turned his attention to the conquest of Formosa, at the time a Dutch possession, where the local residents planned the expulsion of the Dutch with Koxinga's leadership. According to Dutch accounts, European settlers numbered about 600, with a garrison of 2,200. The Dutch artillery, stores and merchandise were valued at $8,000,000, and Koxinga's army, were about 100,000 strong. The settlement surrendered to the invaders' superior numbers, and Koxinga established himself as king of the island under the Kingdom of Tungning. Koxinga had made Riccio a mandarin and sent him as an ambassador to the governor of Spanish Philippines. He arrived in Manila in 1662 bearing Koxinga's despatches calling on the governor to pay tribute under threat of Koxinga attacking the Spanish colony if his demand was refused.

Riccio was received with great honour in Manila, and rode to Government House in the full uniform of a Chinese envoy, through lines of troops drawn up to salute him as he passed. At the same time, the Chinese residents in Manila had received letters from Formosa, and the Spanish authorities accused them of conniving at rebellion. All available forces were concentrated in the capital; and to increase the garrison, the Governor published a decree, dated 6 May 1662, ordering the demolition of the forts of Zamboanga, Yligan (Mindanao), Calamian Islands) and Ternate in the Moluccas. The only provincial fort preserved was that of Surigao (then called Caraga).

The troops in Manila numbered 100 cavalry and 8,000 infantry. Fortifications were raised, and redoubts were constructed in which to secrete treasury funds. When all the armament was in readiness, the Spaniards incited the Chinese residents to rebel, to afford a pretext for their massacre.

Two junk masters were seized, and the Chinese population was menaced; therefore they prepared for their own defence, and then opened the affray, for which the Government was secretly longing, by killing a Spaniard in the marketplace. Suddenly artillery fire opened on the Parian, and many peaceful Chinese traders hanged themselves in their terror; many were drowned in their attempt to reach the canoes and get away to sea; some few did safely arrive in Formosa Island and join Koxinga's camp, whilst others took to the mountains. Some 8,000 to 9,000 Chinese residents remained quiet, but ready. They were suddenly attacked by Spaniards and natives. The confusion was general, and the Chinese residents seemed to be gaining ground, so the governor sent Riccio and a certain Fray Joseph de Madrid to parley with them. The Chinese residents accepted the terms offered by Riccio, who returned to the governor, leaving Fray Joseph with the rebels, but when Riccio went back with a general pardon and a promise to free the two junk masters, he found that the Moro had beheaded the priest. A general carnage followed, and Juan de la Concepcion says that the original intention of the Spaniards was to kill all the Chinese residents, but they desisted in view of the inconvenience that would have ensued from the lack of tradesmen and mechanics. Therefore, they made a virtue of a necessity, and graciously pardoned in the name of His Catholic Majesty all who laid down their arms.

The Molucca Islands were definitely evacuated and abandoned by the Spaniards, although as many men and as much material and money had been employed in garrisons and conveyance of subsidies there as for the whole Philippine colony up to that time.

1750s expulsions
When the Chinese residents were expelled from Manila in 1758, many of them went to Joló, where some 4,000 lived at the time of Cencelly's expedition; they sided with the natives of Jolo (Tausug Moros) against the Spaniards, and organized an armed troop to fight them.

Pagan pure Han Chinese residents were expelled from Manila in 1755 and 1766, leaving only Catholic Chinese mestizo residents behind. Chinese mestizos made up a huge fraction of the Philippine population and took over the retail trade from pure Chinese residents.

1770s conflicts
The Sulu kingdoms were tributaries to the Ming Dynasty and one Sulu king died in China during a tribute mission. After Spanish persecution against Chinese residents in Luzon, thousands of Chinese residents fled to Sulu, and Sulu's Sultan Israel (1773–1778) was backed by 4,000 Chinese residents against the Spanish. Chinese residents participated in events in Sulu's war against western colonialists, such as the 5 March 1775 attack against the Balambagan British outpost led by Chinese merchant Datu Teteng. In the negotiations leading up to the 19 December 1726 treaty between Spain and Sulu, Sulu's representative was the Chinese Ki Kuan. Many Chinese residents assimilated into Tausug-Sama people and Chinese surnames are found among them. An Englishman named Brun joined the Jolo Moros under Datto Tetenz with 4,000 Chinese residents expelled from Manila by the British, and ravaged Cebu, harassing the coast. "In 1642 Generals Corcuero and Almonte made peace with Corralat, but piratical depredations by the Moros continued; Chinese rebellions embarrassed the Spaniards, who evacuated many places, and many fights were chronicled between the Moro fleets of Praus and the Spanish fleets. The priests egged on the Spanish, and the Spanish King re-established, and then abandoned, many stations in Mindoro, Basilan Mindanao and Jolo. Treaties were made and unmade. Expeditions intended to be punitive were undertaken. The Tawi-Tawi Moros nearly captured Zamboanga. Engagements were constant with varying success until 1737. King Philip V. of Spain, pestered the Sultans of Jolo and Tomantaca (Mindanao) about not being Christians, but expeditions were as frequent as baptisms."

Anda took what precautions were available to restrain the Moro pirates, but great difficulties arose. Ali-Mudin, whom the English had restored to his sway in Joló, and his son Israel (in whose favor the father abdicated) were friendly to the Spaniards, with many of their dattos; but another faction, led by Zalicaya, the commander of the Joloan armadas, favored the English, who had established themselves in 1762 on Balambangan in the Joló archipelago, which they had induced Bantilan to grant them. The English were accused of trying to incite the Joloans against the Spaniards by intrigue and bribery.

Anda sent an expedition to protest to the English their occupation of this Spanish territory, and entrusted this mission to an Italian officer named Giovanni Cencelly, who was then in command of one of the infantry regiments stationed at Manila; the latter sailed from Zamboanga December 30, 1773, bearing careful instructions to avoid any hostilities with the English and maintain friendship with the Joloans. But Cencelly seems to have been quite destitute of tact or judgment, and even of loyalty to his governor; for he disobeyed his instructions and angered the Joloans, who could hardly be restrained by Ali-Mudin from massacring the Spaniards, and at the end of three weeks was obliged to return to Zamboanga. He was on bad terms with the commandant there, Raimundo Español, and refused him any account of his proceedings at Joló. He even tried to stir up sedition among the Spanish troops against Español. The English gladly availed themselves of this opportunity to strengthen their own position in Joló, stirring up the islanders against Spain and erecting new forts. Later, however, the English at Balambangan showed so much harshness and contempt for the Moro dattos (even putting one in the pillory) that the latter plotted to surprise and kill the intruders; and on March 5, 1775, did so, killing all the English being except the commandant and five others, who managed to escape to their ship in the harbor.

The Moros seized the fort, thus acquiring great quantities of military supplies, arms, money, and food, along with several vessels. Among these spoils were forty-five cannons and $24,000 in silver. Elated by this success, Tenteng, the chief mover of the enterprise, tried to secure Zamboanga the same way; but the new commandant there, Juan Bayot, was on his guard, and the Moros did not succeed. Teteng then went to Cebú, where he committed horrible ravages. Other raids of this sort were carried out, and for a long time the Spaniards were unable to check them. A letter written to the king by Anda in 1773 had asked for money to build light armed vessels, and a royal order of January 27, 1776, commanded that 50,000 pesos be sent to Filipinas for this purpose. This money was used by Anda's temporary successor, Pedro Sarrio, for the construction of a squadron of vintas, "vessels which, on account of their swiftness and exceedingly light draft, were more suitable for the pursuit of the pirates than the very heavy galleys; they were, besides, to carry pilots of the royal fleet to reconnoiter the coasts, draw plans of the ports, indicate the shoals and reefs, take soundings in the sea, etc." "The Datos at once feared the vengeance of the English, and declared Tenteng unworthy of the rights of a Joloan and an outlaw from the kingdom with all his followers. Sultan Israel wrote to the governor of Zamboanga, assuring him that neither he nor the Datos had taken part in this transgression; and he asked the governor to send him the Curia filipica and the Empresas políticas of Saavedra, in order that he might be able to answer the charges which the English would make against him. (He had studied at the college of San José in Manila.)" Tenteng repaired to Joló with his booty and the captured English vessel; "these were arguments in his favor so convincing that he was at once admitted." He surrendered to the sultan all the military supplies and $2,000 in cash, and divided the spoils with the other datos; they received him with the utmost enthusiasm, and raised the ban from his head. "Around 1803, the squadron of General Alava returned to the Peninsula, the English again took possession of the island of Balanbangan; and it appears that they made endeavors to establish themselves in Joló, and were instigating the sultan and datos to go out and plunder the Visayas, telling the Joloans that they themselves only cared to seize Manila and the Acapulko galleon.