Sino-Western relations in the eighteenth century mainly found their expression in a particular mode of commercial transactions in Canton. The structure of the Western trade with China was based on silver and colonial products from India and the Malay archipelago, like silver, cotton, pepper, lead. These commodities were exchanged for Chinese tea, silk and porcelain by the mediation of the so-called Hong trades. As long as the trade structure was kept in balance the Westerners were able to make large profits and commercial relations remained the same. When the trade structure fell out balance through, for instance, a shortage of silver or the prohibition of opium smuggling, the Western powers resorted to force. The discontinuation of the traditional Sino-Western trade because of an imbalance in the trade structure eventually did not lead to the decline of trade, but to military conquest: the Opium War in 1840. This War enabled the Westerners, headed by the English, to revamp the structure of their trade with China on their own terms and forced the Chinese government into acceptance. Since then the process of the Western expansion into China was characterised by commercial expansion, military show of force and political control. In this essay I would like to analyze how the traditional structure of Sino-Western trade lost its equilibrium and to study the changing character of European expansion into China as a result of this imbalance during the period of 1740-1840.

Le thème de ‘l'émigration Indienne outre-mer’ qui devrait être l'essentiel de notre propos ne va en fait représenter qu'une partie fort réduite et imprécise dans ce texte. L'historiographie prendra le pas sur l'histoire et le sujet dérivera vers des interrogations d'une nature différente. Nous essayerons d'expliquer la faiblesse de notre connaissance historique et d'en trouver le fondement dans la manière dont ont été rédigés les ouvrages dont nous nous sommes servis et dans les orientations des auteurs eux-mêmes. Cette dérive de l'histoire vers la critique historiographique vient presque naturellement dans notre cas dans la mesure où nous n'avons pas eu accès aux archives qui concernent notre propos. Nous avons donc travaillé sur une bibliographie. Il nous faut constater dés à présent que les problèmes sociaux et sociologiques des Indiens entre les deux guerres ont peu été étudiés, rares sont les ouvrages qui en parlent, surtout d'une manière argumentée.

This article will analyze some of the images of Indonesia as expressed in the Dutch press in the period between December 1949 and August 1962 from the granting of independence to the handing over of die last remnant of the former colony, Western New Guinea. It will focus on two aspects. First, how did the press report about Indonesia and second, what role did it play in the deterioration of the Dutch-Indonesian relationship? To what extent can the press be held responsible for the negative image of the Dutch with regard to Indonesia after 1949?

In the fascinating debate between Jan Breman and Vincent Houben following the former's publication Koelies, Planters en Koloniale Politiek, both authors seem to agree on at least one point: the great value of John R.W. Smai's approach to the writing of Asian history. The historian's perspective should be from within Asia. Although Smail's ideas became widely accepted among scholars, I would like to stress that his thoughts were hardly ever put into actual practice, especially with regard to plantation development. But let me elaborate on that a little further.