The ultimate goal of the expedition was to establish a Dutch base of operations on the China coast and force the Chinese to trade with them, so Reijersen was given the option not to attack Macau, but was to form fortifications on the Pescadores regardless.
Coen had previously ordered Admiral Janszoon to detach a few ships from the Manila blockade to join Reijersen's fleet, and surely enough, two Dutch and two English vessels waited outside Macau since 29 May.