Philip II Authorized China Invasion

After Spain's conquests in the Americas and the Philippines, Spanish planners developed the Empresa de China, a proposed 16th-century invasion and assimilation of Ming China. A faction within the Society of Jesus, led by a Spanish Jesuit and diplomat named Alonzo Sanchez, pushed a plan involving Iberian, Visayan, and Japanese troops alongside potential Chinese allies. After conquering China, the planners intended to convert its population to Christianity, encourage marriage between Iberian conquistadors and Chinese women, and use the new Spanish-controlled territory to open an eastern front against the Ottoman Empire. King Philip II authorized an official council for the project in March 1588, but the Spanish Armada's defeat and opposition from Dominicans, Franciscans, and other Jesuits brought the scheme to a halt.

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