>> >> Taiwan's Chinese, Alberto, >> > As much as, say, Korea or Indochina or Tibet was Chinese. > > I think the last time Taiwan was really controlled by > the same ruler as mainland China was in the XVI century. >
It seems that I am wrong: http://taiwanresources.com/info/history/chrono.htm Text without links and names in non-roman characters: 1544: Portuguese "discovered" Taiwan, and called it Ilha Formosa, the beautiful island. Dutch Era 1624: The Dutch erected Fort Zeelandia on an islet, named Tayouan or Taywan, close to today's Tainan City, and began to colonize the southwestern part of Formosa. 1626: Spanish landed on Santiago , settled in northern Taiwan, and built Fort Santo Domingo at today's Tamsui 2 years later. 1642: The Dutch expelled Spanish from northern Taiwan. 1653: The Dutch built Fort Provintia in today's Tainan City after Chinese immigrants' unsuccessful rebellion. 1661: After being defeated by Manchus (Tartars) in China, Koxinga , the last general of the Ming Dynasty, lead 25,000 nobles, soldiers, and pirates to invade Taiwan in April. Taywan Kingdom Era 1662: After a siege of 9 months and loss of 1,600 Dutch lives, Governor Coyett surrendered Taiwan to Koxinga. Koxinga died 4 months later, and his son Sya succeeded as King of Taywan. 1663-64: Bort, the Dutch Admiral, returned to Formosa Straits with 16 Men-of-War, 1,281 landmen and 1,382 mariners. The fleet helped Manchus expel Koxingans from Amoy & Quemoy off the coast of China, but failed to retake Formosa and Taywan. 1673: King Sya recovered part of Fukian (Fujian) province, including Amoy & Quemoy. 1680: Syalost the battles in Fukian across Formosa Straits and retreated back to Taiwan. 1681: King Sya died and his son, a minor succeeded. Manchus (Ch'ing Dynasty) Era 1683: Manchus (Tartars) lead by Shilang , a Koxinga's ex-officer, after a fierce sea battle in the area of Pescadores, annihilated the Kingdom of Taywan, and annexed western Taiwan to Chinese empire. 1771: Count Benyowsky of Hungary & Poland escaped from captivity in Siberian Kamchatka. On the voyage home, he and his 90+ followers landed on eastern Formosa. They lived among the aboriginal for 2 weeks before deciding not to stay. 1867: John Dodd, the pioneer of Taiwan's tea industry, rented two clippers to export "Formosa Oolong" to New York. It turned out to be a great success. 1871. 12: A Ryukyu ship met a typhoon. Its 66 crew members landed in the territory of the Botan aborigines in southern Taiwan. 54 of them were murdered by the Botan, and the remaining 12 were rescued by a Han settler. 1874: In May, Saigo Tsugumichi lead Japanese Expedition to southern Taiwan to 'punish' the aboriginal for killing Ryukyu mariners. A major skirmish took place at Stone Gate , where 30 Formosan and 7 Japanese killed or fatally wounded and dozens injured. The original expedition forces numbered exceeding 2,000. When they withdrew 7 months later, more than 500 had succumbed to malaria, etc.. 1884. 8: French forces lead by Admiral Coubert invaded northern Taiwan. Several battles were fought through the following spring. The French managed to occupy Keelung, the seaport, but failed to take Tamsui. 1885: In March, Coubert occupied the Pescadores with a vision to transform them into France's Hong Kong. In June, he died of a tropical disease. In June & July, French forces withdrew from Keelung area and the Pescadores. 1895. 4. 17: Sino-Japanese War ended. Li Hung-chang and Ito signed Shimonoseki Treaty, and China ceded Taiwan to Japan. Formosan Republic Era 1895. 5.25: Officials and people in Taiwan established the first Republic in Asia to resist impending Japanese rule. 1895.5. 29: The1st brigade of the Japanese Imperial Guard landed near Santiago in northern Taiwan. 12,000 soldiers lead by Prince Kitashirakawa & Governor General Kabayama arrived on day 1 & day 2. Japanese Era 1895.10.21: Japanese forces entered Tainan, the southern capital of "the Republic". 1898: Kodama Gentaro became the 4th governor-general. He appointed Dr. Goto Shimpei as chief administrator. Taiwan began its painful modernization. 1902.5.30: The legendary anti-Japanese leader, Lim Siau-Niau and his followers were killed while defending their stronghold Au Pia Na near Kaohsiung. 1930.10.27: A major uprising by the aborigines erupted at Musha (Bu-hsia) in central Taiwan. It lasted for 2 months. In the end, over 150 Japanese were killed and over 600 aboriginal lives perished. Republic of China Era 1945: World War II ended. Japan surrendered on August 15. China's Chiang Kai-shek appointed General Chen-Yi to take over Taiwan. Taiwan's population consisted of 6,700,000 Taiwanese, 285,000 Japanese civilians, 158,000 Japanese military personnel, 5,000 Okinawans and 2,000 Koreans. 1946: By April 25, over 90% of Japanese were expelled from Taiwan. The remaining 35.000 were retained temporarily for their professional expertise. 1947: Chinese rule brought widespread corruption to the government, chaos to society, and run-away inflation to the economy. On February 28, a generalized uprising ensued. Chiang Kai-shek responded by sending in troops from China and conducting ruthless suppression. Thousands of Taiwanese, most of them innocent, were massacred. 1949: After being defeated by communists in China, Chiang Kai-shek and more than one million followers fled to Taiwan. He was to rule Taiwan with iron fists in the name of "Free China" for the decades to come. 1971: Chiang Kai-shek's regime was expelled from the United Nations. 1975: Chiang Kai-shek died. His son Chiang Ching-Kuo succeeded. 1988: Chiang Ching-kuo died. The martial law was lifted the previous year.
