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are you sure they don't have a province/colony/trading post somewhere you haven't conquered yet? you have to conquer everything
also, do they have any allies left that they me holding out would rescue them?
lastly, they can just be stubborn about it
 
Re: Yea verily

They must have an ally then. Otherwise, it's a bug. If you conquered all the provinces and none of the allies are fighting you, you should be able to annex.
Originally posted by Uncle Toby
I have done all these things. I have their rutters and they have no provinces
yet I stll cannot annex them.
 
Yes , try a 'white peace' with Chinas' allies individually.Then go for the annexatiuon.
 
Don't think that it's a bug.
You probably missed a peace offer they made to you earlier.
You should be able to tell, if you hover the mouse over the annexation item in the menu.
If you then get as information: 'can't send a diplomat until -date already past-' then I'm positive, you must have missed their diplomatic offer (small icon to right of your screen).
 
Nope

I got to the peace screen, seven stars but no annexation option.

The dissappearing fleet which occured just before is about the only
really inexplicable thing I've had happen in about sixty hours of play.
It's crashed, of course,about a dozen times.

The fleet was sailing in the sea of Japan, fresh out of port, 21 warships
and it just vanished instantly. No enemies were within 3000 miles.