I only have a vague understanding of the Dutch in this area. I read that the Dutch would hire samurai as part of their military in initial conquests in part as executioners and that they burned a lot of islands, in part to raise the prices of the spices they took and sold. Were the British, French, and Portuguese similar in their treatment of people and lands?

How much of government would be controlled by the occupying power in different countries? Did local people have opportunities to rise to prominence through private enterprise or government office? I'm guessing these would be different depending on occupying power.

I know in Haiti that some French colonists would have children, often non-consensually, with black people and those children were essentially their own section of society under the law. Was there any kind of analogue in Asia?

Thanks for any answers you can give or sources you can provide.