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Okay, in the 1760s, Britain captured Manila from the Spanish, promptly giving it back at the end of the war. In 1797, Britain debated taking the city again; it would've been feasible, since the garrison was only around a thousand men.

There are reasons to take it; it was an entrepot for trade, especially between China and the rest of the world.

On the other hand, running the place would've been a, umm, bitch. In 1762, the British got some Chinese on their side, who had maintained Chinese customs and been discriminated against by the Spanish. Chinese converts, however, stayed loyal to Spain, as did almost everyone else. And in the chaos in the aftermath of Manila's 1762 fall, slavers from the Muslim south captured thousands of Catholics as slaves. And the clerical orders have an enormous amount of land across Luzon, which I imagine the British will want to do something about.

On the other hand... Hrmm.

Turning outwards from this, Raffles might capture Deshima during the Napoleonic Wars; it's even closer, after all, and opening up Japan would only make British Luzon more profitable, instead of something of a sucking wound on the EIC treasury.

Thoughts?
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