Taiwan in history: from the first settlers to the 20th century

In prehistory,  the island of Formosa was occupied by Austronesian peoples (originating from Oceania). Subsequently, it received migrations from the Han tribe, coming from the nearest coasts of China. The Han are considered the ancestors of the current Chinese. That original nucleus constituted the native population of Taiwan for thousands of years.

While the various dynasties of the Chinese Empire developed, life on the island unfolded, detached from the fate of the continent. There were, however, some Japanese migrations to the North and Malay to the South. 

From the discovery of America, Europeans began to arrive in the Far East more frequently, following the expedition of Ferdinand Magellan, starting in 1521.

The first to settle permanently in the area were the Spaniards; who settled in the Philippines during the first half of the 16th Century; followed by their neighbors and rivals, the Portuguese. These, from their settlements in Africa and India, headed to Malaysia, then to mainland China and, avoiding the Philippine archipelago to prevent a direct confrontation with Spain, continued northward. As they passed by Taiwan, they named it Formosa in 1546.  There is no record of them landing; instead, they continued to Japan to trade in the lands of the fearsome Shoguns, or feudal lords.

Map of the East Indies (Madrid - 1601) 

The development of maritime trade in the East led to all the waters located east of China being crossed by Spanish and Portuguese ships, carrying and bringing goods between the Philippines and America the former; and Japan, Korea, and Malaysia, the latter. This attracted the obvious settlement of pirates on the island of Formosa: Japanese in the North, in Keelung, and Chinese in the South; the choice was strategic: the island was in a privileged position as a base to assault any ship that sailed through the area.

The tensions of the Spanish and Portuguese empires (now unified under the rule of the Habsburgs or Austrias) with the pirates continued; to which was also added the threat of the Japanese shoguns to attack Manila. To top it off, a newly arrived power would soon become the third party in the area:  Holland, a rising European naval power, also wanted to settle in Malaysia, Indonesia, and China. To this end, in 1624 they established a factory in Tainan, in the south of the island, as a base of operations.

Dutch port in the South of Formosa (Spanish map 17th Century)

Faced with this threat, two years later (1626) the Spaniards installed a precarious fort in the north of the island, which they named San Salvador and its port, Santísima Trinidad; where Keelung is today. Two hundred troops and twelve cannons garrisoned the place.

Port of Santísima Trinidad in Formosa (Spanish map 17th Century)

Two years later (1628),  to reinforce their presence in the area, Spain built the fort of Santo Domingo in Tamsui (near present-day Taipei). It still stands as a permanent testimony of the Spanish presence in Taiwan. The following year, around the fort, the town of San Salvador was founded, the seed of what is now the Taiwanese capital. 

In 1630 the Dutch tried unsuccessfully to evict the Spaniards from the north of the island. Then, typhoons, diseases, neglect of the Spanish garrison by Manila, conflicts with the indigenous people, and clashes with the Dutch led the Spaniards to abandon Tamsui (Santo Domingo) in 1638. The settlement of Santísima Trinidad remained; which, almost left to its fate by Manila, eventually succumbed to a strong Dutch attack that, from the south, evicted Spain from the last stronghold it had in Formosa, in 1642.

In the 16 years of Spanish occupation of the north of the island, the activity of Catholic missionaries stood out, who evangelized more than 5,000 natives of the area; a task that was later lost with Spain's withdrawal.

The Dutch would continue to dominate the island for twenty more years.  It was in 1662 that the legendary Chinese warrior of Japanese origin, Koxinga, defeated the Dutch and evicted them from Formosa. Subsequently,  his descendants swore allegiance to the Chinese emperors of the Ming dynasty. From that moment until 1895,  the island of Taiwan was integrated into the Celestial Empire. First under the Ming, and then with the last dynasty, the Qing.

In 1894/1895 the first Sino-Japanese war took place, where the expanding Japanese Empire in the East clashed with China over conflicting interests on the Korean peninsula.  The young and emerging Japanese empire, which had implemented a rapid and efficient process of modernization and westernization, bringing it, in a few years, to the level of the main Western powers;  easily defeated the stagnant and ancient Chinese Empire, which was not adapting to the new times. This blow would be one of the main causes of the fall of the Empire founded by the mythical Yellow Emperor, 2,700 years Before Christ.

As a result of the Treaty of Shimonoseki, China ceded Korea, parts of Manchuria, and the island of Formosa to Japan. Thus, for 50 years, Taiwan was occupied by the Japanese Empire, which left its mark on the island. Mainly, it favored residents of Japanese origin in key positions, increased forced prostitution among the natives, forced the indigenous people to convert to Buddhism or Shintoism, forced young Taiwanese to enlist in the Japanese armed forces,  imposed Japanese as the language, and the clothing and architecture of the conquerors.

The current Taiwanese presidential palace, of classical monumental style, with influences from 1930s Europe, was the residence of the Japanese colonial governor during the Japanese occupation.  As favorable points of that period, improvements in the general economic situation of the island, employment rates, culture, and industry can be mentioned. Even today, some long for the era of Japanese occupation. Young people, especially, admire Japan; disregarding the atrocities reported during this period.

During World War II, in 1943, the Cairo Conference took place; in which the Allied leaders participated: Winston Churchill (British Prime Minister), Franklin D. Roosevelt (American President), and Chiang Kai Shek (First Leader of the Republic of China). In this conference, it was agreed that, after the war, the island of Taiwan would be reintegrated into the Republic of China.

In compliance with the agreement, and after the conflict ended, Japan handed over Formosa to the Republic of China in 1945; a country that has maintained its sovereignty over the island and its adjacent territories since then.