They were finally driven out by the Dutch in 1641.
In 1661, the Ming-dynasty general Zheng Cheng-gong (1624–1662), known to the West as Koxinga, took Taiwan from the Dutch and established an exiled Ming government in Anping (Tainan) in southern Taiwan. The Ming dynasty was overthrown by the Manchus on the Chinese mainland, but Zheng's son ruled Taiwan with a large number of Chinese followers until the Manchus finally took Taiwan in 1683. By then, Taiwan's population had exceeded 2.5 million, most of them from China's Fujian and Guangdong provinces.
By the nineteenth century, China was experiencing economic difficulties and political chaos. Western countries controlled territory along the eastern seaboard. At the end of the first Sino-Japanese War in 1895, Taiwan was ceded to Japan. Japan began its colonization of Taiwan and used it as a major military base for fifty years until the end of World War II.
Relations Under the Two Chiangs
In 1911, the Manchu empire on the Chinese main-land was overthrown by a nationalist revolution spear-headed by the Guomindang (on Taiwan, Kuomintang) under the leadership of Sun Yat-sen (1866–1925) and Chiang Kai-shek (1887–1975). They established the Republic of China (ROC), which became an ally of the United States during World War II.
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