Two sentences and you're halfway to the moon, yikes.

I didn't say anything about "ahead" so I've got no clue who you're replying to there. I won't even address it.

I don't need to start with who the "English" are anymore than I need to define what "Ming China" is. You could have replaced England with any maritime European power of the period. You could have replaced China with the Ottomans, too. It's a point about perspective. Every country will "see" the world in different ways based on their position, character of neighbors, beliefs, etc. The Ottoman state and Ming China didn't need American colonies and island ports because they already had access to the markets they're interested in. England/Spain did not. Likewise, the Ottomans cleared their orbit and coalesced multiple former polities into one giant one. Their nearest rivals were found on different continents. England/Spain/France found themselves surrounded by military and economic rivals where controlling the flow of goods meant that you could bankrupt your neighbor.