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122-880: The island of Taiwan , also commonly known as Formosa , was partly under colonial rule by the Dutch Republic from 1624 to 1662 and from 1664 to 1668. In the context of the Age of Discovery , the Dutch East India Company established its presence on Formosa to trade with the Ming Empire in neighbouring China and Tokugawa shogunate in Japan, and to interdict Portuguese and Spanish trade and colonial activities in East Asia . The Dutch were not universally welcomed, and uprisings by both aborigines and recent Han arrivals were quelled by

244-510: A Chinese official to relocate drought victims to Taiwan and to provide each person three silver taels and an ox for every three people. The plan was never carried out. Following the pacification campaigns of 1635–1636, more and more villages came to the Dutch to swear allegiance, sometimes out of fear of Dutch military action, and sometimes for the benefits which Dutch protection could bring (food and security). These villages stretched from Longkiau in

366-541: A below average harvest for 1653. However, thousands of Chinese migrated to Taiwan due to war on the mainland and a modest recovery of agriculture occurred the next year. Measures were taken to suppress the Chinese and anti-Chinese rhetoric increased. Natives were reminded to keep an eye on the Chinese and not to engage in unnecessary contact with them. The Dutch portrayed themselves as protectors of aboriginal land against Chinese encroachment. In terms of military preparations, little

488-592: A boundary running the length of the island and continuing southwards in the Luzon Volcanic Arc (including Green Island and Orchid Island ), the Eurasian Plate is sliding under the Philippine Sea Plate. Most of the island comprises a huge fault block tilted to the west. The western part of the island, and much of the central range, consists of sedimentary deposits scraped from the descending edge of

610-571: A fleet carrying around 25,000 soldiers and sailors. The fleet arrived at Tayouan on 2 April. Zheng's forces routed 240 Dutch soldiers at Baxemboy Island in the Bay of Taiwan and landed at the bay of Luermen . Three Dutch ships attacked the Chinese junks and destroyed several until their main warship exploded. The remaining ships were unable to keep Zheng from controlling the waters around Taiwan. On 4 April, Fort Provintia surrendered to Zheng forces. On 7 April, Zheng's army besieged Fort Zeelandia . An assault on

732-541: A junk to Penghu to see whether Chenggong was preparing forces there but they found nothing. In 1655, the governor of Taiwan received a letter from Chenggong insulting the Dutch and referring to the Chinese in Taiwan as his subjects. He commanded them to stop trading with the Spanish. Chenggong directly addressed the Chinese leaders in Taiwan rather than Dutch authorities, stating that he would withhold his junks from trading in Taiwan if

854-568: A land bridge during glacial periods . Niushan Island in Nanlai village, Aoqian town, Pingtan County, Fuzhou, Fujian is the closest China (PRC)-administered island to the main island. To the south, the main island is separated from the Philippine island of Luzon by the 250 km (155 mi)-wide Luzon Strait . The South China Sea lies to the southwest, the East China Sea to the north, and

976-460: A large junk to the company, and on another occasion he delivered nine captured junks as well as their cargos worth more than 20,000 taels. Chinese officials asked the Dutch for help against Zheng in return for trading rights. The company agreed and the Dutch lieutenant governor visited the officials in Fujian to inform them that the Dutch would drive Zheng from the coast. The Dutch failed and Zheng attacked

1098-559: A marble canyon, cliff, and fold mountains. Shei-Pa National Park has alpine ecosystems, geological terrain, and valley streams. Kinmen National Park has lakes, wetlands, coastal topography, flora and fauna-shaped island. Dongsha Atoll National Park has the Pratas reef atolls for integrity, a unique marine ecology, and biodiversity, and is a key habitat for the marine resources of the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait. Natural resources on

1220-447: A peasant army 4,000 strong and scattered them. The Dutch told the natives that they would be rewarded with Indian textiles if they helped fight the Chinese. Over the next two days, native warriors and Dutch warriors killed around 500 Chinese, most of whom were hiding in the sugarcane fields. On 11 September, four or five thousand Chinese rebels clashed with the company soldiers and their native allies. After suffering two thousand casualties,

1342-506: A piece of land from the Sinkanders and built the town of Sakam for Dutch and Chinese merchants. Initially the other villages maintained peace with the Dutch but a series of events from 1625 to 1629 eroded this peace. In 1625, the Dutch attacked 170 Chinese pirates in Wankan but were driven off, damaging their reputation. Encouraged by the Dutch failure, Mattau warriors raided Sinkan, believing that

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1464-490: A port, five Dutch ships were sent to Liu-ao and the mission ended in failure for the Dutch, with a number of Dutch sailors taken prisoner and one of their ships lost. In response to the Dutch using captured Chinese for forced labor and strengthening their garrison in the Pescadores with five more ships in addition to the six already there, the new governor of Fujian, Nan Juyi, was permitted by China to begin preparations to attack

1586-503: A single Chinese vessel arrived in Tayouan. Even low-cost goods grew scarce and the value of aboriginal products fell. The system of selling Chinese merchants the right to trade in aboriginal villages fell apart as did many other revenue generating system. On 9 July 1656, a junk flying Chenggong's flag arrived at Fort Zeelandia. Chenggong wrote that he was angry with the Dutch but since Chinese people lived in Taiwan, he would allow them to trade on

1708-571: A storm. The Dutch continued to attack Zheng ships from time to time, disrupting trade, and occupied Keelung until 1668, but they were unable to take back the island. On 10 September 1670, a representative from the English East India Company (EIC) signed a trade agreement with the Zheng regime. Despite this, trade with the EIC was limited due to the Zheng monopoly on sugarcane and deer hide as well as

1830-523: A surprise attack on Xiamen, forcing him to return to protect it. From 1656 to 1658 he planned to take Nanjing. In the summer of 1658 he set sail but a storm turned him back. On July 7, 1659, Chenggong's fleet set sail again and his army encircled Nanjing on 24 August. Qing reinforcements arrived and broke Chenggong's army, forcing them to retreat to Xiamen. In 1660 the Qing embarked on a coastal evacuation policy to starve Chenggong of his source of livelihood. Some of

1952-410: Is 36,197 km (13,976 sq mi), slightly larger than Belgium . It has a coastline of 1,566.3 km (973.3 mi). The ROC claims an exclusive economic zone of 83,231 km (32,136 sq mi) with 200  nmi (370.4 km; 230.2 mi) and a territorial sea of 12 nmi (22.2 km; 13.8 mi). The island of Taiwan, the largest of the archipelago, was known in

2074-690: Is divided into two parts: the flat to gently rolling plains in the west, where 90% of the population lives, and the mostly rugged forest-covered mountains in the eastern two-thirds. The eastern part of the island is dominated by five mountain ranges, each running from north-northeast to south-southwest, roughly parallel to the east coast of the island. As a group, they extend 330 km (210 mi) from north to south and average about 80 kilometres (50 mi) from east to west. They include more than two hundred peaks with elevations of over 3,000 m (9,800 ft). The Central Mountain Range extends from Su'ao in

2196-669: Is in Puli Township , Nantou County . The southernmost point on the island is Cape Eluanbi in Hengchun Township , Pingtung County . The main island is separated from the southeast coast of mainland China by the Taiwan Strait , which ranges from 220 km (140 mi) at its widest point to 130 km (81 mi) at its narrowest. Part of the continental shelf, the Strait is no more than 100 m (330 ft) deep, and has become

2318-486: Is no good policy to treat so badly [China], which has come over to us through lack of a better alternative." Despite some efforts to mitigate the hoofdbrief abuse, tensions continued to rise. In 1644, a pirate named Kinwang who had been sacking aboriginal villages in Formosa since the previous year, stranded in the Bay of Lonkjauw and the natives captured him, handing him over to the Dutch. Kinwang had proclaimed his rule over

2440-401: Is rich in wind energy resources, with wind farms both onshore and offshore, though limited land area favours offshore wind resources. By promoting renewable energy, Taiwan's government hopes to also aid the nascent renewable energy manufacturing industry, and develop it into an export market. Taiwan has a population of over 23 million, the vast majority of whom live in the lowlands near

2562-741: The Formosan clouded leopard is likely extinct and the otter restricted to Kinmen island . The largest carnivore is the Formosan black bear ( Selanarctos thibetanus formosanus ), a rare and endangered species. Nine national parks in Taiwan showcase the archipelago's diverse terrain, flora and fauna. Kenting National Park on the southern tip of Taiwan contains uplifted coral reefs , moist tropical forest and marine ecosystems. Yushan National Park has alpine terrain, mountain ecology, forest types that vary with altitude, and remains of ancient roads. Yangmingshan National Park has volcanic geology, hot springs, waterfalls, and forest. Taroko National Park has

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2684-445: The Formosan landlocked salmon ( Oncorhynchus masou formosanus ). A few of these are now extinct , and many others have been designated endangered species . Taiwan has 65 species of fireflies, the third highest density after Jamaica and Costa Rica. Fireflies are protected and their numbers are increasing, but they are threatened by climate change in the long term. Taiwan had relatively few carnivores , 11 species in total, of which

2806-515: The Hualien River in the north to Taitung County in the south, and chiefly consist of sandstone and shale. It is separated from the Central Range by the narrow Huatung Valley , at an altitude of 120 m (390 ft). Although Hsinkangshan (新港山), the highest peak, reaches an elevation of 1,682 m (5,518 ft), most of the range is composed of large hills. Small streams have developed on

2928-678: The Linkou Plateau , the Taoyuan Plateau and the Dadu Plateau . About 23% of Taiwan's land area consists of fertile alluvial plains and basins watered by rivers running from the eastern mountains. Over half of this land lies in the Chianan Plain in southwest Taiwan, with lesser areas in the Pingtung Plain , Taichung Basin and Taipei Basin . The only sizable plain on the east coast is

3050-613: The Penghu archipelago in the Taiwan Strait, Kinmen and Matsu in Fuchien near the PRC's coast, as well as Pratas and Taiping in the South China Sea. Geologically, the main island comprises a tilted fault block , characterized by the contrast between the eastern two-thirds, consisting mostly of five rugged mountain ranges running parallel to the east coast, and the flat to gently rolling plains of

3172-623: The Philippine Sea to the east. Smaller islands of the archipelago include the Penghu islands in the Taiwan Strait 50 km (31 mi) west of the main island, with an area of 127 km (49 sq mi), the tiny islet of Xiaoliuqiu off the southwest coast, and Orchid Island and Green Island to the southeast, separated from the northernmost islands of the Philippines by the Bashi Channel . The islands of Kinmen and Matsu near

3294-532: The Sun Moon Lake Basin in the centre of the island. The Dadu and Zhuoshui Rivers flow from the western slopes of the Central Range through the basin to the west coast of the island. The Xueshan Range lies to the northwest of the Central Mountain Range, beginning at Sandiaojiao , the northeast tip of the island, and gaining elevation as it extends southwest towards Nantou County . Xueshan ,

3416-879: The World Trade Organization in 2002. Consequently, upon the decline of subsistence, Taiwan's agriculture now relies heavily on the marketing and export of specialty crops, such as bananas , guavas , lychees , bell fruits , and high-mountain tea . Taiwan has significant coal deposits and some insignificant petroleum and natural gas deposits. As of 2010 , oil accounts for 49.0% of the total energy consumption. Coal comes next with 32.1%, followed by nuclear energy with 8.3%, natural gas (indigenous and liquefied) with 10.2%, and energy from renewable sources with 0.5%. Taiwan has six nuclear reactors and two under construction. Nearly all oil and gas for transportation and power needs must be imported, making Taiwan particularly sensitive to fluctuations in energy prices. Taiwan

3538-624: The Yilan Plain in the northeast. The island of Taiwan lies across the Tropic of Cancer , and its climate is influenced by the East Asian Monsoon . Northern Taiwan has a humid subtropical climate , with substantial seasonal variation of temperatures, while parts of central and most of southern Taiwan have a tropical monsoon climate where seasonal temperature variations are less noticeable, with temperatures typically varying from warm to hot. During

3660-518: The 17th century. Camphor extraction and sugar refining played an important role in Taiwan's exports from the late 19th century through the first half of the 20th century. The importance of these industries declined mainly due to the reduction of international demand rather than the exhaustion of related natural resources. Domestic agriculture (rice being the dominant kind of crop) and fisheries retain some importance. Still, they have been greatly challenged by foreign imports since Taiwan's accession to

3782-409: The Central Mountain Range is the steepest mountain slope in Taiwan, with fault scarps ranging in height from 120 to 1,200 m (390 to 3,900 ft). Taroko National Park , on the steep eastern side of the range, has good examples of mountainous terrain, gorges and erosion caused by a swiftly flowing river. The East Coast Mountain Range extends down the east coast of the island from the mouth of

Dutch Formosa - Misplaced Pages Continue

3904-515: The Chinese coast for 100 days so long as only Taiwanese products were sold. Chinese merchants began leaving with their families. Chenggong made good on his edict and confiscated a Chinese junk from Tayouan trading pepper in Xiamen, causing Chinese merchants to abort their trade voyages. A Chinese official arrived in Tayouan carrying a document with Chenggong's seal demanding to inspect all the junks in Tayouan and their cargoes. Chinese merchants refused to buy

4026-529: The Chinese refused. The governor of Fujian, Shang Zhouzuo, proposed that the Dutch leave the Pescadores in favor of Formosa, where the Chinese would then authorize them to engage in trade. This led to a series of clashes between the Dutch and China from 1622 to 1624. After Shang's proposal on 19 September 1622, the Dutch raided Amoy in October and November. The Dutch intended to "induce the Chinese to trade by force or from fear." by raiding Fujian and Chinese shipping from

4148-569: The Chinese, Nan Juyi paraded twelve Dutch soldiers who were captured before the Emperor in Beijing. The Dutch were astonished that their violence did not intimidate the Chinese and at the subsequent Chinese attack on their fort in the Pescadores, since they thought them as timid and a "faint-hearted troupe," based on their experience with them in Southeast Asia. When the Dutch arrived in Taiwan, they found

4270-547: The Dutch (and English) had also broken with the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th century, unlike the staunchly-Catholic Iberian powers. The Dutch also fought Spain from the 1560s through the 1640s for formal recognition of their independence and the integrity of their territory in Europe. The Dutch first attempted to trade with China in 1601 but were rebuffed by the Chinese authorities, who were already engaged in trade with

4392-456: The Dutch allied with the new Qing dynasty in China against the Zheng regime in Taiwan. Following some skirmishes the Dutch retook the northern fortress at Keelung in 1664. Zheng Jing sent troops to dislodge the Dutch, but they were unsuccessful. The Dutch held out at Keelung until 1668, when aborigine resistance (likely incited by Zheng Jing), and the lack of progress in retaking any other parts of

4514-447: The Dutch colony, expelled the Dutch and established the Ming loyalist, anti-Qing Kingdom of Tungning . The Dutch Republic and England came, at the beginning of the 17th century, inevitably in conflict with the forces of Spain and Portugal , in various parts of the world, as they further expanded their area of naval expeditions outside of Europe. In addition to the commercial conflict,

4636-495: The Dutch could not defend them. The Dutch returned with their ships and drove off the pirates later, restoring their reputation. Mattau was then forced to return the property stolen from Sinkan and make reparation. The people of Sinkan then attacked Mattau and Baccluan before seeking the Dutch for protection. Feeling that the Dutch could not sufficiently protect them, the people of Sinkan went to Japan for protection. In 1629, Pieter Nuyts visited Sinkan with 60 musketeers. After leaving

4758-407: The Dutch fluyt Cuylenburg , bound from Nagasaki to Batavia. Zheng's men executed 34 Dutch sailors and drowned eight others. Only 21 Dutch sailors escaped to Japan. The Dutch claimed the entirety of the island, but because of the inaccessibility of the central mountain range the extent of their control was limited to the plains on the west coast, plus isolated pockets on the east coast. This territory

4880-617: The Dutch forces in July 1623. A Dutch raid was defeated by the Chinese at Amoy in October 1623, with the Chinese taking the Dutch commander Christian Francs prisoner and burning one of the four Dutch ships. Yu Zigao began an offensive in February 1624 with warships and troops against the Dutch in the Pescadores with the intent of expelling them. The Chinese offensive reached the Dutch fort on 30 July 1624, with 5,000 Chinese troops (or 10,000) and 40-50 warships under Yu and General Wang Mengxiong surrounding

5002-629: The Dutch in the 1650s because of oppression, such as when the Dutch ordered aboriginal women for sex, deer pelts, and rice be given to them from aborigines in the Taipei basin in Wu-lao-wan village, which sparked a rebellion in December 1652 at the same time as the Chinese rebellion. Two Dutch translators were beheaded by the Wu-lao-wan aborigines, and in a subsequent fight 30 aboriginals and another two Dutch people died. After an embargo of salt and iron on Wu-lao-wan,

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5124-531: The Dutch military on more than one occasion. With the rise of the Qing dynasty in the early 17th century, the Dutch East India Company cut ties with the Ming dynasty and allied with the Qing instead, in exchange for the right to unfettered access to their trade and shipping routes . The colonial period was brought to an end after the 1662 siege of Fort Zeelandia by Koxinga 's army who promptly dismantled

5246-498: The Dutch refused to help him, Liu captured a Dutch junk and used its 30-man crew as human shields. Liu attacked Fort Zeelandia but some Chinese residents warned the company and they fought off the pirates without any trouble. In 1637, Liu was defeated by Zheng, who established primacy over the Fujianese trading world. He continued to have a hand in the affairs of Taiwan and aided the growth of the Chinese population there. He made plans with

5368-431: The Dutch would not guarantee his junks safety from Dutch depredations in Southeast Asia. Chenggong had increased foreign trade by sending junks to various regions and Batavia was wary of this competition. Batavia sent a small fleet to Southeast Asian ports to intercept Chenggong's junks. One junk was captured but another junk managed to escape. The Taiwanese trade slowed and for several months in late 1655 and early 1656 not

5490-478: The Eurasian Plate. In the northeast of the island, and continuing eastwards in the Ryukyu Volcanic Arc, the Philippine Sea Plate slides under the Eurasian Plate. The tectonic boundary remains active, and Taiwan experiences 15,000 to 18,000 earthquakes each year, of which 800 to 1,000 are noticed by people. The most catastrophic recent earthquake was the magnitude-7.3 Chi-Chi earthquake , which occurred in

5612-695: The Imperial Academy in Nanjing . When Beijing fell in 1644 to rebels, Chenggong and his followers declared their loyalty to the Ming dynasty and he was bestowed the title Guoxingye (Lord of the Imperial surname), pronounced "Kok seng ia" in southern Fujianese. His father Zhilong aided the Longwu Emperor in a military expedition in 1646, but Longwu was captured and executed. In November 1646, Zhilong declared his loyalty to

5734-550: The Japanese paid more. The Dutch also restricted Japanese trade with the Ming dynasty. In response, the Japanese took on board 16 inhabitants from the aboriginal village of Sinkan and returned to Japan. Suetsugu Heizō Masanao housed the Sinkanders in Nagasaki. Batavia sent a man named Peter Nuyts to Japan where he learned about the Sinkanders. The shogun declined to meet the Dutch and gave the Sinkanders gifts. Nuyts arrived in Taiwan before

5856-525: The Pescadores. Long artillery batteries were erected at Amoy in March 1622 by Colonel Li-kung-hwa as a defence against the Dutch. Although the Dutch officers on site realized that the Ming would not be bullied into trading with them, the command in Batavia were slow to catch on, as they commanded repeated violence against the Chinese with whom they intended to trade. On the Dutch attempt in 1623 to force China to open up

5978-553: The Portuguese at Macau from 1535. In a 1604 expedition from Batavia (the central base of the Dutch in Asia), Admiral Wybrand van Warwijk set out to attack Macau, but his force was waylaid by a typhoon , driving them to the Pescadores ( Penghu ), a group of islands 30 miles (50 km) west of Formosa (Taiwan). Once there, the admiral attempted to negotiate trade terms with the Chinese on

6100-450: The Qing. Chenggong continued the resistance against the Qing from Xiamen . In 1649, Chenggong gained control over Quanzhou but then lost it. In 1650 he planned a major offensive from Guangdong in conjunction with a Ming loyalist in Guangxi . The Qing deployed a large army to the area and Chenggong decided to ferry his army along the coast but a storm hindered his movements. The Qing launched

6222-431: The Sinkanders and refused to allow them to land before the Sinkanders were jailed and their gifts confiscated. The Japanese took Nuyts hostage and only released him in return for their safe passage back to Japan with 200 picols of silk as well as the Sinkanders' freedom and the return of their gifts. The Dutch blamed the Chinese for instigating the Sinkanders. The Dutch dispatched a ship to repair relations with Japan but it

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6344-460: The Taiwan Straits. The climate ranges from tropical in the south to subtropical in the north, and is governed by the East Asian Monsoon . On average, four typhoons strike the main island each year. The heavily forested eastern mountains provide a habitat for a diverse range of wildlife, while human land use in the western and northern lowlands is intensive. The total land area of Taiwan

6466-563: The West until after World War II as Formosa , from the Portuguese Ilha Formosa ( [ˌiʎɐ fuɾˈmɔzɐ] ), "beautiful island". It is 394 km (245 mi) long and 144 km (89 mi) wide, and has an area of 35,808 km (13,826 sq mi). The northernmost point of the island is Cape Fugui in New Taipei 's Shimen District . The central point of the island

6588-576: The Yushan Range, across the valley of the south-flowing Kaoping River . The range has major elevations between 1,000 and 2,000 m (3,300 and 6,600 ft). The main peak, Data Mountain (大塔山), towers 2,663 m (8,737 ft). Below the western foothills of the ranges, such as the Hsinchu Hills and the Miaoli Hills , lie raised terraces formed of material eroded from the ranges. These include

6710-408: The aboriginals were forced to sue for peace in February 1653. Zheng Chenggong , known in Dutch sources as Koxinga, was the son of Zheng Zhilong . By 1640, Zhilong had become military commander of Fujian Province . Chenggong spent the first seven years of his life in Japan with his mother and then went to school in Fujian, obtaining a county-level licentiate at the age of 15. Afterwards he studied at

6832-524: The camphor laurel ( Cinnamomum camphora ) was once also widespread at lower altitudes. Taiwan is a centre of bird endemism (see List of endemic birds of Taiwan ). Before the country's industrialization , the mountainous areas held several endemic animal species and subspecies, such as the Swinhoe's pheasant ( Lophura swinhoii ), Taiwan blue magpie ( Urocissa caerulea ), the Formosan sika deer ( Cervus nippon taiwanensis or Cervus nippon taiouanus ) and

6954-435: The centre of Taiwan on 21 September 1999, killing more than 2,400 people. On 4 March 2010 at about 01:20 UTC, a magnitude 6.4 earthquake hit southwestern Taiwan in the mountainous area of Kaohsiung County . Another major earthquake occurred on 6 February 2016, with a magnitude of 6.4. Tainan was damaged the most, with 117 deaths, most of them caused by the collapse of a 17-story apartment building. The terrain in Taiwan

7076-461: The city of Xiamen, destroying hundreds of junks and setting fire to buildings and houses. In response, in 1628, the Chinese authorities awarded him with an official title and imperial rank. Zheng became the "Patrolling Admiral" responsible for clearing the coast of pirates. He used his official position to destroy his competitors and established himself in the port of Yuegang. In October 1628, Zheng agreed to supply silks, sugar, ginger, and other goods to

7198-686: The coast of Fujian across the Taiwan Strait have a total area of 180 km (69 sq mi); the Pratas and Taiping islets in the South China Sea are also administered by the ROC, but are not part of the Taiwanese archipelago. The island of Taiwan was formed approximately 4 to 5 million years ago at a complex convergent boundary between the Philippine Sea Plate and the Eurasian Plate . In

7320-632: The colony to first return a profit. Benefitting from triangular trade between themselves, the Chinese and the Japanese, plus exploiting the natural resources of Formosa, the Dutch were able to turn the malarial sub-tropical bay into a lucrative asset. A cash economy was introduced (using the Spanish real , which was used by the VOC) and the period also saw the first serious attempts in the island's history to develop it economically. The original intention of setting up Fort Zeelandia at Tayowan ( Anping ) in southern Formosa

7442-412: The company in return for silver and spices at a fixed rate. Then the Dutch got angry at Zheng, who they were convinced was trying to monopolize trade to Taiwan. His promised "disappeared into smoke". In the summer of 1633, a Dutch fleet and the pirate Liu Xiang carried out a successful sneak attack on Zheng's fleet. Zheng believed that he and the Dutch were on good terms and was caught off guard; his fleet

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7564-444: The company's foreign wares and even sold their own foreign wares, causing prices to collapse. Chinese merchants in aboriginal villages ran out of goods to trade for aboriginal products. Chinese farmers also suffered due to the exodus of Chinese. They could not export their rice and sugar and their investments in fields and labor wasted away. By the end of 1656, Chinese farmers were asking for relief from debts and even requested help in

7686-466: The coral reefs of Lamey and its crew was killed by the natives. In 1631, another ship wrecked on the reefs and its survivors were also killed by the inhabitants of Liuqiu Island. In 1633, an expedition consisting of 250 Dutch soldiers, 40 Chinese pirates, and 250 Taiwanese natives were sent against Liuqiu Island but met with little success. The Dutch allied with Sinkan, a small village that provided them with firewood, venison and fish. In 1625, they bought

7808-477: The country of Switzerland. Other environmental issues include water pollution from industrial emissions and raw sewage , contamination of drinking water supplies, trade in endangered species , and low-level radioactive waste disposal. Though regulation of sulfate aerosol emissions from petroleum combustion is becoming stringent, acid rain remains a threat to the health of residents and forests. Atmospheric scientists in Taiwan estimate that more than half of

7930-432: The exclusive preserve of the indigenous peoples until the early 20th century. A further 1.2 million people from throughout China entered Taiwan at the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949. Some areas in Taiwan with high population density and many factories are affected by heavy pollution. The most notable areas are the southern suburbs of Taipei and the western stretch from Tainan to Lin Yuan, south of Kaohsiung. By

8052-414: The failure to set up a trading post in Fat Tong O (present day Hong Kong ), the fleet sailed to the Pescadores, this time intentionally, and proceeded to set up a base there at Makung to disrupt trade with Manila. They built a fort with forced labour recruited from the local Chinese population. Their oversight was reportedly so severe and rations so short that 1,300 of the 1,500 Chinese enslaved died in

8174-453: The flanks, but only one large river cuts across the range. Badlands are located at the western foot of the range, where the ground water level is the lowest and rock formations are the least resistant to weathering. Raised coral reefs along the east coast and the frequent occurrences of earthquakes in the rift valley indicate that the fault block is still rising. The ranges to the west of the Central range are divided into two groups separated by

8296-403: The following years. This changed in late 1633 when Mattau and Soulang went to war with each other. Mattau won the fight but the Dutch were able to exploit the division. In 1634, Batavia sent reinforcements. In 1635, 475 soldiers from Batavia arrived in Taiwan. By this point even Sinkan was on bad terms with the Dutch. Soldiers were sent into the village and arrested those who plotted rebellion. In

8418-437: The form of guaranteed prices. Many Chinese could barely find food for themselves. The Chinese sent presents and a letter to Chenggong urging him to reopen trade to Taiwan but no reply was received. The Dutch also sent letters to Chenggong through a Chinese intermediary named He Tingbin. A VOC employee, He Bin, fled to Zheng Chenggong and provided him with a map of Taiwan. On 23 March 1661, Zheng's fleet set sail from Kinmen with

8540-416: The fort commanded by Marten Sonck , and the Dutch were forced to sue for peace on 3 August and folded before the Chinese demands, withdrawing from the Pescadores to Formosa. The Dutch admitted that their attempt at military force to coerce China into trading with them had failed with their defeat in the Pescadores. At the Chinese victory celebrations over the "red-haired barbarians," as the Dutch were called by

8662-399: The fort failed and many of Zheng's best soldiers died, after which Zheng decided to starve out the defenders. The company dispatched a fleet of 12 ships and 700 sailors to relieve the fort. The reinforcements met with bad weather and a shipwreck that had an entire crew captured by natives and sent to the Zheng camp. Fighting lasted from July to October when the Dutch ultimately failed to relieve

8784-412: The frontier might have made the burden unbearable for some. The residency tax also came with a residency permit called hoofdbrief , which the Chinese were required to hold and show to any Dutchman who asked. This system was widely abused by company soldiers, demanding to see documents as an excuse to extort money. The governor-general in Batavia himself wrote a letter to Taiwan about the issue, saying: "It

8906-512: The inability of the English to match the price of East Asian goods for resale. Zheng trade was subject to the Qing sea ban policy throughout its existence, limiting trade with mainland China to smugglers. The Dutch looted relics and killed monks after attacking a Buddhist complex at Putuoshan on the Zhoushan islands in 1665. In 1672, off northeastern Taiwan, Zheng Jing's ships captured, looted, and sank

9028-485: The island persuaded the colonial authorities to abandon this final stronghold and withdraw from Taiwan altogether. Keelung was a lucrative possession for the Dutch East India Company with 26% of the company's profits coming from their Taiwan operations in 1664. Qing-Dutch forces attempted to invade Taiwan twice in December 1664. On both occasions Admiral Shi Lang turned back his ships due to adverse weather. Shi Lang tried to attack Taiwan again in 1666 but turned back due to

9150-646: The island's mineral resources (e.g. coal, gold, marble), as well as wild animal reserves (e.g. deer), have been virtually exhausted. Moreover, much of Taiwan's forestry resources , especially firs were harvested during Japanese rule for the construction of shrines and have only recovered slightly since then. To this day, forests do not contribute to significant timber production mainly because of concerns about production costs and environmental regulations. The few natural resources with significant economic value remaining in Taiwan are agriculture-associated. Sugarcane and rice have been cultivated in western Taiwan since

9272-511: The island, mainly from the south of Fujian . Most of the immigrants were young single males who were discouraged from staying on the island, often referred to by Han as "The Gate of Hell" for its reputation in taking the lives of sailors and explorers. After one uprising by Hanin 1640, the Guo Huaiyi rebellion in 1652 saw an organised insurrection against the Dutch, fuelled by anger over punitive taxes and corrupt officials. The Dutch again put down

9394-456: The island. Following this victory, the Dutch set about bringing the northern villages under their banner in a similar way to the pacification campaign carried out in the previous decade in the south. In 1644 a Manchu army entered Beijing, setting off nearly forty years of civil war in China. This greatly upset the profitable silk trade between China, Formosa and Japan, causing the Dutch to implement new taxes in order to recoup lost profits. Some of

9516-418: The island. In 1616, Nagasaki official Murayama Tōan sent 13 vessels to conquer Taiwan. The fleet was dispersed by a typhoon and the one junk that reached Taiwan was ambushed by headhunters, after which the expedition left and raided the Chinese coast instead. In 1625, Batavia ordered the governor of Taiwan to prevent the Japanese from trading. The Chinese silk merchants refused to sell to the company because

9638-409: The islands include small deposits of gold , copper , coal , natural gas , limestone , marble , and asbestos . The island is 55% forest and woodland (mostly on the mountains) and 24% arable land (mostly on the plains), with 15% going to other purposes. 5% is permanent pasture and 1% is permanent crops. Because of the intensive exploitation throughout Taiwan's pre-modern and modern history ,

9760-562: The land under ROC control. It lies about 180 kilometres (112 mi) across the Taiwan Strait from the southeastern coast of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The East China Sea is to the north of the island, the Philippine Sea to its east, the Luzon Strait directly to its south, and the South China Sea to its southwest. The ROC also controls a number of smaller islands , including

9882-646: The late 20th century, Taipei suffered from extensive vehicle and factory air pollution , but after the government required mandatory use of unleaded petrol and established the Environmental Protection Administration in 1987 to regulate air quality, the air quality of Taiwan has improved dramatically. Motor scooters , especially older or cheaper two-stroke versions, which are ubiquitous in Taiwan, contribute disproportionately to urban air pollution. The Taichung Power Plant also contributes significantly to air pollution, producing more CO 2 than

10004-525: The main peak, is 3,886 m (12,749 ft) high. The Yushan Range runs along the southwestern flank of the Central Range. It includes the island's tallest peak, the 3,952 m (12,966 ft) Yu Shan ('Jade Mountain') which makes Taiwan the world's fourth-highest island , and is the highest point in the western Pacific region outside of the Kamchatka Peninsula , New Guinea Highlands and Mount Kinabalu . The Alishan Range lies west of

10126-700: The mainland, but was asked to pay an exorbitant fee for the privilege of an interview. Surrounded by a vastly superior Chinese fleet, he left without achieving any of his aims. The Dutch East India Company tried to use military force to make China open up a port in Fujian to trade and demanded that China expel the Portuguese, whom the Dutch were fighting in the Dutch–Portuguese War , from Macau. The Dutch raided Chinese shipping after 1618 and took junks hostage in an unsuccessful attempt to get China to meet their demands. In 1622, after another unsuccessful Dutch attack on Macau ( trade post of Portugal from 1557) and

10248-402: The maximum penalty for ocean pollution was raised from US$ 48,820 to US$ 3.25 million. Liu%27ao, Zhangpu County Liu'ao Peninsula is about 12 km long, stretched along the north-south axis. In the north, it is connected to the mainland by a fairly narrow isthmus. Its western coast is separated from Fujian's mainland by the shallow Jiuzhen Bay; its eastern coast and southern coasts face

10370-521: The men sent to Batavia while the women and children became servants and wives for the Dutch officers. The Dutch planned to depopulate the outlying islands while working closely with allied natives. The villages of Taccariang, Soulang, and Tevorang were also pacified. In 1642, the Dutch massacred the people of Liuqiu island again. Some Dutch missionaries were killed by aboriginals whom they had tried to convert: "The catechist, Daniel Hendrickx, whose name has been often mentioned, accompanied this expedition to

10492-413: The more substantial Fort Zeelandia . By 1626 there were 404 soldiers and 46 artillery specialists manning the fort. According to Salvador Diaz, a Portuguese man working with Chinese pirates to undermine the Dutch presence in favor of the Portuguese, there were only 320 Dutch soldiers and they were "short, miserable, and very dirty." In 1624, the Dutch ship Golden Lion (Dutch: Gouden Leeuw ) crashed into

10614-468: The mutilated trunk behind." The Japanese had been trading for Chinese products in Taiwan since before the Dutch arrived in 1624. In 1593, Toyotomi Hideyoshi planned to incorporate Taiwan into his empire and sent an envoy with a letter demanding tribute. The letter was never delivered since there was no authority to receive it. In 1609, the Tokugawa shogunate sent Harunobu Arima on an exploratory mission of

10736-420: The next morning, the musketeers were killed in an ambush by Mattau and Soulang warriors while crossing a stream. Nuyts avoided the ambush since he left the evening prior. On 23 November 1629, an expedition set out and burned most of Baccluan, killing many of its people, who the Dutch believed harbored proponents of the previous massacre. Baccluan, Mattau, and Soulang people continued to harass company employees in

10858-489: The northeast to Eluanbi at the southern tip of the island, forming a ridge of high mountains and serving as the island's principal watershed. The mountains are predominantly composed of hard rock formations resistant to weathering and erosion, although heavy rainfall has deeply scarred the sides with gorges and sharp valleys. The relative relief of the terrain is usually extensive, and the forest-clad mountains with their extreme ruggedness are almost impenetrable. The east side of

10980-479: The northern parts of the island, as an opposing force to the Dutch in the south. After his capture he was executed, and a document in his possession was found appealing to the Chinese of Formosa, promising to pay them richly and capitalizing on frustrations of Dutch taxes and their restrictions on trading and hunting. The document said the pirates would protect them and kill any natives who sought to harm them. The Dutch began to encourage large-scale Han immigration to

11102-527: The open sea ( Taiwan Strait ). Most of the peninsula is flat and sandy. However, it also incorporates several rocky hills. It is the outlines of these hills which may have given the peninsula its name, which means "six ao ". During the Hongwu Emperor reign, a fortress was constructed at the foot of one of the hills of the Liu'ao peninsula, a bit inland from the main business district of today's Liu'ao town. This

11224-407: The pollutants causing Taiwan's acid rain are carried from China by monsoon winds. Taiwan historically had a serious problem with the illegal dumping of household and industrial waste which became so severe that Taiwan was known as "garbage island." This high level of pollution led to civil and government action, by 2022 the recycling rate was one of the highest in the world at 55%. Community activism

11346-404: The population. Immigrants from southern Fujian began to farm the area around modern Tainan and Kaohsiung from the 17th century, later spreading across the western and northern plains and absorbing the indigenous population of those areas. Hakka people from eastern Guangdong arrived later and settled the foothills further inland, but the rugged uplands of the eastern half of the island remained

11468-425: The process of construction. The Dutch threatened Ming China with raids on Chinese ports and shipping unless the Chinese allowed trading on the Pescadores or Taiwan. They declared that merchants would be given Dutch passes for trips to Batavia and maybe Siam and Cambodia, but not to Manila, which would be subject to seizure by the Dutch. They demanded that the Ming open up ports in Fujian (Fukien) to Dutch trade, which

11590-457: The rebels during the Guo Huaiyi rebellion had expected aid from Chenggong and some company officials believed that the rebellion had been incited by him. A Jesuit priest told the Dutch that Chenggong was looking at Taiwan as a new base of operations. In the spring of 1655 no silk junks arrived in Taiwan. Some company officials suspected that this was a plan by Chenggong to harm them. The company sent

11712-425: The rebels fled south, only to be killed by a large force of natives. In total some 4,000 Chinese were killed and Guo Huaiyi's head was displayed on a stake. Although easily put down, the rebellion and its ensuing massacre of Chinese destroyed the rural labor force since most of the rebels were farmers. Although the crops were fairly unharmed, the company could not obtain the required labor to harvest them, resulting in

11834-475: The revolt hard, with fully 25% of those participating in the rebellion being killed over a period of a couple of weeks. On 7 September 1652, it was reported that a Chinese farmer, Guo Huaiyi , had gathered an army of peasants armed with bamboo spears and harvest knives to attack Sakam. They attacked the next morning. Most of the Dutch were able to find refuge in the company's horse stables but others were captured and executed. A company of 120 Dutch soldiers shot at

11956-537: The shogun. Nuyts was sent to Japan as a prisoner and remained there until 1636 when he returned to the Netherlands. After 1635, the shogun forbade Japanese from going abroad and eliminated the Japanese threat to the company. The VOC expanded into previous Japanese markets in Southeast Asia. In 1639, the shogun ended all contact with the Portuguese, the company's major silver trade competitor. The Europeans worked with and also fought against Chinese pirates. The pirate Li Dan

12078-505: The siege after losing several ships and retreated. In January 1662, a sergeant named Hans Jurgen Radis defected and informed the Zheng forces of a weakness in the defenses. On 12 January, Zheng's ships initiated a bombardment and the Dutch surrendered. On 9 February the remaining company personnel in Fort Zeelandia left Taiwan. The Dutch held out at Keelung until 1668 when they withdrew from Taiwan completely. After being ousted from Taiwan,

12200-580: The south (125 km from the Dutch base at Fort Zeelandia ) to Favorlang in central Taiwan, 90 km to the north of Fort Zeelandia. The relative calm of this period has been called the Pax Hollandica (Dutch Peace) by some commentators (a reference to the Pax Romana ). One area not under their control was the north of the island, which from 1626 had been under Spanish sway, with their two settlements at Tamsui and Keelung . The fortification at Keelung

12322-446: The south, as his great knowledge of the Formosa language and his familiar intercourse with the natives, rendered his services very valuable. On reaching the island of Pangsuy, he ventured—perhaps with overweening confidence in himself— too far away from the others, and was suddenly surrounded by a great number of armed natives, who, after killing him, carried away in triumph his head, arms, legs, and other members, even his entrails, leaving

12444-415: The southwest already frequented by a mostly transient Chinese population numbering close to 1,500. On deciding to set up in Taiwan and in common with standard practice at the time, the Dutch built a defensive fort to act as a base of operations. This was built on the sandy peninsula of Taoyuan (now part of mainland Taiwan, in current-day Anping District ). This temporary fort was replaced four years later by

12566-414: The tolls were to be collected by the same people that helped establish the colony; Chinese entrepreneurs, to whom the Dutch sold the rights to collect certain taxes. An exception to this was hoofdgeld , a residency tax of a quarter real for the Chinese settlers, now estimated at 10% of a laborer's monthly take-home pay. Despite this being lower than the traditional Chinese tax rate of 12%, other conditions on

12688-588: The vegetation on Taiwan ranged from tropical rainforest in the lowlands through temperate forests , boreal forest and alpine plants with increasing altitude. Most of the plains and low-lying hills of the west and north of the island have been cleared for agricultural use since the arrival of the Chinese immigrants during the 17th and 18th century. However the mountain forests are very diverse, with several endemic species such as Formosan cypress ( Chamaecyparis formosensis ) and Taiwan fir ( Abies kawakamii ), while

12810-565: The village leader a robe and a staff as symbols of office and a Prinsenvlag ("Prince's Flag", the flag of William the Silent ) to display in their village. The governor of Formosa ( Dutch : gouverneur van Formosa ; Chinese : 台灣長官 ) was the head of government. Appointed by the governor-general of the Dutch East Indies in Batavia (modern-day Jakarta , Indonesia), the governor of Formosa

12932-631: The western coast of the island. The island is highly urbanized, with nearly 9 million people living in the Taipei–Keelung–Taoyuan metropolitan area at the northern end, and over 2 million each in the urban areas of Kaohsiung and Taichung . Taiwanese indigenous peoples comprise approximately 2% of the population, and now mostly live in the mountainous eastern part of the island. Most scholars believe their ancestors arrived in Taiwan by sea between 4000 and 3000 BC, most likely from southeastern China. Han Chinese make up over 95% of

13054-413: The western third, where the majority of the population resides. Several peaks exceed 3,500 m in height - the highest, Yu Shan at 3,952 m (12,966 ft), makes Taiwan the world's fourth-highest island . The tectonic boundary that formed these ranges remains active, and the island experiences many earthquakes, some of them highly destructive. There are also many active submarine volcanoes in

13176-549: The winter (November to March), the northeast experiences steady rain, while the central and southern parts of the island are mostly sunny. The summer monsoon (from May to October) accounts for 90% of the annual precipitation in the south, but only 60% in the north. The average rainfall is approximately 2,600 mm per year. Typhoons are most likely to strike between July and October, with on average about four direct hits per year. Intensive rain from typhoons often leads to disastrous mudslides. Before extensive human settlement,

13298-429: The winter of 1635 the Dutch defeated Mattau, who had been troubling them since 1623. Baccluan, north of the town of Sakam, was also defeated. In 1636, a large expedition was sent against Liuqiu Island. The Dutch and their allies chased about 300 inhabitants into caves, sealed the entrances, and killed them with poisonous fumes over eight days. The native population of 1100 was removed from the island. They were enslaved with

13420-491: Was abandoned because the Spanish lacked the resources to maintain it, but Fort Santo Domingo in Tamsui was seen as a major obstacle to Dutch ambitions on the island and the region in general. After failing to drive out the Spanish in 1641, the Dutch returned in 1642 with reinforcements of Dutch soldiers and aboriginal warriors in ships, managing to dislodge the small Spanish-Filipino contingent from their fortress and drive them from

13542-407: Was acquired from 1624 to 1642, with most of the villages being required to swear allegiance to the Dutch and then largely being left to govern themselves. The manner of acknowledging Dutch lordship was to bring a small native plant (often betel nut or coconut ) planted in earth from that particular town to the governor, signifying the granting of the land to the Dutch. The governor would then award

13664-421: Was destroyed. Zheng immediately began preparing a new fleet. On 22 October 1633, the Zheng forces lured the Dutch fleet and their pirate allies into an ambush and defeated them . The Dutch reconciled with Zheng, who offered them favorable terms, and he arranged for more Chinese trade in Taiwan. The Dutch believed this was because of Chinese fears of piracy. The pirate Liu Xiang still fought against Zheng, and when

13786-496: Was done except to build a small thinly walled fort. The Dutch did not feel threatened because most of the rebels were agriculturalists while the rich Chinese had sided with the Dutch and warned them of the rebellion. In May 1654, Fort Zeelandia was afflicted by a swarm of locusts, then a plague that killed thousands of natives, Dutch, and Chinese, and then an earthquake that destroyed homes and buildings with aftershocks lasting seven weeks. Multiple aboriginal villages rebelled against

13908-514: Was empowered to legislate, collect taxes, wage war and declare peace on behalf of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and therefore by extension the Dutch state . He was assisted in his duties by the Council of Tayouan, a group made up of the various worthies in residence in Tayouan. The president of this council was the second-in-command to the governor, and would take over his duties if the governor died or

14030-445: Was forced to pay 2,000 taels to Diaz. Li Dan's son, Li Guozhu, also collected collection money, known as "water taxes". Chinese fishermen paid 10 percent of their catch for a document guaranteeing their safety from pirates. This caused the VOC to also enter the protection business. They sent three junks to patrol a fishing fleet charging the same fee as the pirates, 10 percent of the catch. This

14152-538: Was incapacitated. The governor's residence was in Fort Zeelandia on Tayouan (then an island, now the Anping District of Tainan City ). There were a total of twelve governors during the Dutch colonial era. The Tayouan factory (as VOC trading posts were called) was to become the second-most profitable factory in the whole of the Dutch East Indies (after the post at Hirado / Dejima ), although it took 22 years for

14274-543: Was key to this change along with innovations such as garbage trucks which play music. Illegal extraction by Chinese sand dredging vessels has caused significant damage to the marine environment of Taiwan's outlying areas. The Taiwan Banks are a particularly hard hit target. Bottom trawling is a controversial practice due to the environmental damage it causes. Bottom trawlers with a tonnage under 50 are restricted from trawling within 5km of shore and those over 50 tons are restricted from trawling within 12km of shore. In 2023

14396-473: Was one of the first taxes the company levied on the colony. In July 1626, the Council of Formosa ordered all Chinese individuals living or trading in Taiwan to obtain a license to "distinguish the pirates from the traders and workers". This residence permit eventually became a head tax and major source of income for the Dutch. After Li Dan died in 1625, Zheng Zhilong became the new pirate chief. The Dutch allowed him to pillage under their flag. In 1626, he sold

14518-493: Was part of a concerted program to fight the wokou pirates; other fortresses built at the same time period include Chongwu (in Hui'an County ) and Pucheng . While little remains of the old Liu'ao fortress, a section of its wall has been restored, and is preserved as a historic site called Liu'ao Old Walled Town ( simplified Chinese : 六鳌古城 ; traditional Chinese : 六鰲古城 ; Pe̍h-ōe-jī : La̍k-gô Kó͘-siâⁿ ). Historically,

14640-408: Was seized and its crew imprisoned upon arrival. The loss of the Japanese trade made the Taiwanese colony far less profitable and the authorities in Batavia considered abandoning it before the Council of Formosa urged them to keep it unless they wanted the Portuguese and Spanish to take over. In June 1630, Suetsugu died and his son, Masafusa, allowed the company officials to reestablish communication with

14762-494: Was the mediator between Ming Chinese forces and the Dutch at Penghu. In 1625, VOC officials learned that he had kept gifts they had entrusted him with giving to Chinese officials. His men also tried pillaging junks on their way to trade in Taiwan. One Salvador Diaz acted as the pirates' informant and gave them inside information on where junks leaving Tayouan could be captured. Diaz collected protection money as well. A Chinese merchant named Xu Xinsu complained to Dutch officials that he

14884-510: Was to provide a base for trading with China and Japan, as well as interfering with Portuguese and Spanish trade in the region. Goods traded included silks from China and silver from Japan, among many other things. Island of Taiwan Taiwan , officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia . The island of Taiwan , also known as Formosa , has an area of 35,808 square kilometres (13,826 sq mi) and makes up 99% of

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