An in-depth exploration of the Dutch East-India Company and what its history reveals about the Chinese community in the Dutch East Indies. Connections between Asian and European markets increased dramatically in the seventeenth century, indicating a turning point in the global history of trade.  The Dutch East-India Company (or VOC) was central to this process, however, counter to the VOC’s aims, the winners of the game in maritime Southeast Asia were often Chinese merchants. As this book shows, at the time, these merchants were the only economic agents capable of trading both in major...