History of Taiwan

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The history of the island of Taiwan dates back tens of thousands of years to the earliest known evidence of human habitation. The sudden appearance of a culture based on agriculture around 3000 BC is believed to reflect the arrival of the ancestors of today's Taiwanese indigenous peoples. The island was colonized by the Dutch in the 17th century, followed by an influx of Hoklo people including Hakka immigrants from the Fujian and Guangdong areas of mainland China, across the Taiwan Strait. The Spanish built a settlement in the north for a brief period but were driven out by the Dutch in 1642.

In 1662, Koxinga, a loyalist of the Ming dynasty who had lost control of mainland China in 1644, defeated the Dutch and established a base of operations on the island. His forces were defeated by the Qing dynasty in 1683, and parts of Taiwan became increasingly integrated into the Qing empire. Following the First Sino-Japanese War in 1895, the Qing ceded the island, along with Penghu, to the Empire of Japan. Taiwan produced rice and sugar to be exported to the Empire of Japan, and also served as a base for the Japanese invasion of Southeast Asia and the Pacific during World War II. Japanese imperial education was implemented in Taiwan and many Taiwanese also fought for Japan during the war.

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China has over 5, 000 years of history. And yet China didnt calim Taiwan till 1683AD, or 340 years ago. This is a very significant fact. If Taiwan were that significant or indeed easy to control from China, the island would've been incorporated into the empire long ago.

As a contrast...

HaiNan Island has been part of the Chinese empire since first century BCE. The famous Wu Emperor of Han dynasty expanded the empire by formally taking Guangdong and Guangxi provinces, Northern Vietnam and northern part of Korean peninsula. At the same time he took HaiNan Island.

HaiNan Island is not far from Vietnam. It has similar size in area as Taiwan. It is however not as mountainous as Taiwan.

So why HaiNan Island but not Taiwan? Simple. DISTANCE.

HaiNan Island is only about 40km or 25 miles from China itself. The water between the island and China is calm and easy to navigate.

Taiwan is at least 160km or 100 miles from China. The Taiwan Strait is notoriously difficult to navigate due to the fast sea current and weather conditions that could change quickly.

The Chinese empire knew and know that once Taiwan has sufficient population size and economically it is self-fulfilment, residents of Taiwan could claim independence from China. Then China would have difficulties in getting the island back.

Modern history has all but verify this concern. China has and will continue to have difficulties in taking and controlling Taiwan.

Another fact of difference between HaiNan Island and Taiwan. Though HaiNan Island has been part of the empire for over 2, 100 years and it has a much better terrains for agricultural activities. It still has only 8m population.

Taiwan which has over half of its landmass over 200 metres above sea level, it has 23m population. (Only about 8% of human population on earth live above 200m above dea level).

Why? Well, HaiNan Island is too close for refugees to flee from wars, famine and governrnmt atrocities in China itself.

Taiwan on the other hand holds the much more likelihood of freedom from all the above.

Eg, the Taiping Rebellion (1850~1864) that killed at least 50m Chinese or about 10% of the then Chinese population reached HaiNan Island within its first 6 months.

But the rebellion never reached Taiwan allowing significant laege number of refugees to arrive boosting the population.

KMT, eg, never considered evacuated to HaiNan Island for the obvious reasons.

This is very much in the mind of Taiwanese one way or another. The distance is a good barrier. The distance means self-identity. The distance means eventual independence and recognition by the international community.

That is, inevitably, Taiwan isnt for China to take and control.

perhapsme

A rich history with a beautiful & bright future! God bless the independent nation of Taiwan always!
-The Ofori-Atta Family

chaseofori-atta

It's a fairly good video. For me, however, there were some very important historical bits missing particularly from the perspective of the United States of America as the conqueror of Japan and the principal occupier of Japan whose General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers, issued SCAP General Order #1 to the ROC to accept the surrender of Japanese forces on Taiwan as an agent of the principal occupier. Since the Treaty of Shimonoseki was a valid international treaty, Taiwan was Japanese territory until April 28, 1952 at which time it became territory of an undetermined political status as Japan only renounced its title to Formosa and the Pescadores and did not cede the separated territories to the ROC in any international peace treaty.The USA's statements that the political status of Taiwan was undetermined (like that of Cuba after the 1898 Treaty of Paris that concluded the Spanish-American War) also meant that the USA had not disposed of title of Formosa and the Pescadores to the ROC so under international law Taiwan was not a province of China as annexation of occupied territory by an agent of the principal occupier was a war crime for which the principal occupier could be held accountable in addition to other violations of international laws of warfare regarding occupied territory).

There was also a gap regarding President Nixon and an agreement with the PRC that was not mentioned.

Taiwan: Confronting Strategic Ambiguity

TaiwanDefense

BlueGiant