Japanese Invasion of Taiwan (1895) - Aftermath

Aftermath

The last Formosan militia units still under arms were defeated on 26 November 1895 at the Battle of Changhsing, popularly known in Taiwan as the Battle of the Burning Village (traditional Chinese: 火燒庄戰役). During this battle Japanese troops set alight and stormed the village of Changhsing (traditional Chinese: 長興村), Pingtung, against determined resistance by a force of Hakka militiamen and armed villagers under the command of Chiu Feng-yang (邱鳳揚). The surviving Formosans dispersed after this defeat.

Japan had won its title to Taiwan and the Pescadores with the Treaty of Shimonoseki, and the successful Japanese invasion of Taiwan confirmed the Japanese in their possession. Taiwan remained firmly under the control of Japan until 1945, and all regular units of the Chinese army still on the island were either disbanded or shipped back to China. Businessmen who had backed the Japanese during the invasion prospered under their rule. Koo Hsien-jung, who had invited the Japanese into Taipei in the early days of June 1895, was granted exclusive business rights in Taiwan, making him the wealthiest Taiwanese of his time. His son Koo Chen-fu inherited his wealth and founded the Koos Group, which dominated the business sector of modern Taiwan.

Although the Japanese army had defeated the Chinese regular and Formosan militia forces with little difficulty, a number of locally-raised guerilla bands maintained an insurgency against the Japanese for the next seven years. The insurgency initially flourished because the bulk of the invasion force was repatriated after the surrender of Tainan, so that for several months there were relatively few Japanese troops left on the ground in Taiwan. The Japanese responded to the continuing resistance with a carefully calibrated 'stick and carrot' policy, granting clemency to insurgents who laid down their arms while hunting down and annihilating those that did not, and taking brutal reprisals against villages believed to be sheltering guerillas.

A Japanese writer himself said "Though the island was pacified no one knew what was to happen next. We did not understand the character of the people. Very few Japanese could speak Formosan and fewer Formosans could speak Japanese. There was naturally mutual distrust and suspicion. The bandits abounded everywhere. Under these conditions military rule was the only form of government that could be adopted until better assurance could be obtained of the disposition of the people. For this purpose it was calculated that some ten million yen, I may say five million dollars, was yearly needed for the pacification and government of Formosa"

By 1902 most of the Formosan guerilla units had either been wiped out or had surrendered, but a guerilla band led by Lin Shao-mao (林少貓) remained a thorn in the side of the Japanese. Lin continued to harass the Japanese, and he and his men were eventually hunted down and killed in a major engagement on 30 May 1902. In Japanese eyes, the extermination of Lin's band marked the end of the 'pacification' process in Taiwan, though low-level violence continued for several years thereafter.