Which country ruled Taiwan before Taiwan became a province of China in late Qing Dynasty?

Question

Some claims that Taiwan was part of Chinese territory for only 10 years before Japan's 50-year occupation started at the end of 19th century. So I wonder who was ruling Taiwan before that and for how long? This question is seeking historical fact and is not intented to bring up the subject of the Taiwan Independence movement.

Answer 1

Prior to the fall of the Ming Dynasty in 1644, Taiwan, then known as Formosa, was ruled by the Dutch East India Company. The Dutch East India Company administered the island and its predominantly aboriginal population until 1662, setting up a tax system, schools to teach romanized script of aboriginal languages and evangelizing. The Dutch administered the island from the colonial capital of Zeelandia, (modern-day Tainan)

In 1661, a naval fleet led by the Ming loyalist Koxinga, arrived in Taiwan to oust the Dutch from Zeelandia and establish a pro-Ming base in Taiwan. Koxinga, a half-Japanese, half-Chinese pirate, desired to maintain Ming rule because of lenient Ming policies towards piracy. In 1662, following a nine month siege, Koxinga captured the Dutch fortress Zeelandia and Taiwan became his base. Concurrently the last Ming pretender had been captured and killed by the Manchu General Wu Sangui, extinguishing any hope Koxinga may have had of re-establishing the Ming Empire.

In 1683, following a naval engagement with Admiral Shi Lang, one of Koxinga's father's trusted friends now in the service of the Qing emperors, Koxinga's grandson Zheng Keshuang submitted to Qing Dynasty control.

You can research further here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Tungning

Hope this helps,
Peace

Answer 2

Taiwan was occupied by Japan between 1895 and 1945. Before that, Taiwan was not formally a province of China; in 1871, the Chinese imperial court refused to pay Japan compensation for 54 Japanese sailors killed in Taiwan after suffering a shipwreck on the grounds that Taiwanese population was "wild" and "unsubjugated" and was not under the imperial jurisdiction. By 1890, however, Taiwan became an object of contest between China and Japan, the contest culminating in the First Sino-Japanese War...

Answer 3

The Republic of China's Taiwan Province does not house the artifacts. They are in Taipei, which is not a part of the remaining provincial territory. However, there are a whole lot of relics from the Japanese Era (1895-1945) around my area in Taiwan. Do you have any interest in those?