Formosa. Country of success - страница 5

In Taiwan, which by 1871 was under the sovereignty of the Chinese Qing dynasty, a diplomatic incident took place. Residents of Taiwanese tribes of the Mudan village killed 54 Japanese fishermen from the Miyakojima island of the Ryukyu archipelago.

The fishermen were accidentally washed ashore by a wave to the southeastern coast of Taiwan.

The main instigators of the massacre were natives from the Kuarut and Bo-otang tribes.

The 12 surviving crew members were rescued by the Chinese and taken to Taiwan, from where they were handed over to Fujian officials. Later, by agreement, they were sent home.

Ryukyu Archipelago Governor Oyama Tsunayoshi, deputy head of Kagoshima Province, reported to the Japanese central government, calling for revenge. Prudently perhaps, any decision on the issue was postponed.

In 1873, a second similar incident occurred when Taiwanese natives attacked a Japanese ship from the village of Kashiwa, Okayama Prefecture. The ship was wrecked in Taiwanese waters and four crew members were beaten to death.

This event infuriated the Japanese public, which actively demanded the most decisive measures from the authorities. Foreign Minister Soejima Taeomi, sent to the court of Emperor Qing, received an audience with Emperor Tongzhi and appealed to the Chinese side with a demand to compensate for the losses.

Responding, the Qing Dynasty Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that although Taiwan belongs to China, the Taiwanese aborigines are southern barbarians who do not recognize the Qing emperor's supreme power.

Therefore, the latter is not responsible for their actions.

We should note, that until 1895, that is before the transfer of the island to Japan under the Shimonoseki Treaty, the island was divided into two zones:

– the western plains, where the main population was made up of migrants from mainland China; here also lived the indigenous agricultural population – “plain settlers” (pinbu);

– the eastern mountainous zone, where since the 17th century there were restrictions on Chinese migration (the so-called fenshanming – a decree on the closure of the mountains). There was no Chinese administration there, and the local population (Shenfan or Gaoshan – "highlanders") was ruled by elders.

Meanwhile, in Japan, public discontent was growing fuelled by political crisis, unpopular reforms and the outbreak of the Saga uprising.

Encouraged by the Americans, the Japanese government decided to use the recent incidents as an excuse to relieve social tension within the country and carry out a punitive expedition.

In April 1874, the Imperial Adviser Okumu Shigenobu, was appointed head of the Taiwan appanage office, and Lieutenant General Tsugumichi Saigo was appointed the commander of the troops of this office. In addition to the ground forces, impressive naval forces were also involved, including the armoured corvette Ryujo, built in England not long before these events. But at the last moment, the government halted preparations due to protests from the British and US ambassadors, who said the invasion of Taiwan "would destabilize peace in the Far East."

Despite international pressure, in mid-May 1874, the 3,000-strong contingent of the Imperial Japanese Army under the command of Tsugumichi Saigo unauthorizedly set off to Taiwan. A little later, the Japanese authorities were forced to recognize the legitimacy of the campaign. On 22 May 1874, the Japanese gathered their troops in the Taiwanese port of Sheliao and began punitive action against the Paivan aborigines.