In the years following the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the South China Sea region, from China's southeastern waters to Indonesia and the Malay Peninsula, was extremely unstable. Piracy was rampant, with numerous ocean bandits harassing maritime traffic from strongholds throughout the coastal islands. This situation not only was damaging to China's prestige in the region, but also undermined the Ming government's consolidation and expansion of political power. The chief diplomatic objective of Zheng He's western voyages was to eliminate the pirate threat, resolve conflicts among the countries of southern and southeastern Asia, and establish peace and stability in the region.