<P> The Portuguese conquest of Malacca triggered the Malayan--Portuguese war . In 1521, Ming dynasty China defeated the Portuguese at the Battle of Tunmen and then defeated the Portuguese again at the Battle of Xicaowan . The Portuguese tried to establish trade with China by illegally smuggling with the pirates on the offshore islands off the coast of Zhejiang and Fujian, but they were driven away by the Ming navy in the 1530s - 1540's . </P> <P> In 1557, China decided to lease Macau to the Portuguese as a place where they could dry goods they transported on their ships, which they held until 1999 . The Portuguese, based at Goa and Malacca, had now established a lucrative maritime empire in the Indian Ocean meant to monopolise the spice trade . The Portuguese also began a channel of trade with the Japanese, becoming the first recorded Westerners to have visited Japan . This contact introduced Christianity and fire - arms into Japan . </P> <P> In 1505 (also possibly before, in 1501), the Portuguese, through Lourenço de Almeida, the son of Francisco de Almeida, reached Ceylon . The Portuguese founded a fort at the city of Colombo in 1517 and gradually extended their control over the coastal areas and inland . In a series of military conflicts and political manoeuvres, the Portuguese extended their control over the Sinhalese kingdoms, including Jaffna (1591), Raigama (1593), Sitawaka (1593), and Kotte (1594) - However, the aim of unifying the entire island under Portuguese control faced the Kingdom of Kandy ` s fierce resistance . The Portuguese, led by Pedro Lopes de Sousa, launched a full - scale military invasion of the kingdom of Kandy in the Campaign of Danture of 1594 . The invasion was a disaster for the Portuguese, with their entire army wiped out by Kandyan guerilla warfare . Constantino de Sá, romantically celebrated in the 17th century Sinhalese Epic (also for its greater humanism and tolerance compared to other governors) led the last military operation that also ended in disaster . He died in the Battle of Randeniwela, refusing to abandon his troops in the face of total annihilation . </P> <P> The energies of Castile (later, the unified Spain), the other major colonial power of the 16th century, were largely concentrated on the Americas, not South and East Asia, but the Spanish did establish a footing in the Far East in the Philippines . After fighting with the Portuguese by the Spice Islands since 1522 and the agreement between the two powers in 1529 (in the treaty of Zaragoza), the Spanish, led by Miguel López de Legazpi, settled and conquered gradually the Philippines since 1564 . After the discovery of the return voyage to the Americas by Andres de Urdaneta in 1565, cargoes of Chinese goods were transported from the Philippines to Mexico and from there to Spain . By this long route, Spain reaped some of the profits of Far Eastern commerce . Spanish officials converted the islands to Christianity and established some settlements, permanently establishing the Philippines as the area of East Asia most oriented toward the West in terms of culture and commerce . The Moro Muslims fought against the Spanish for over three centuries in the Spanish--Moro conflict . </P>

To what extent were the japanese receptive to european trade and influence before 1854