|
Chapter 5
The Republic of Taiwan
Japanese
Ambition
Before sending military
expedition to Taiwan in 1874, Japan hired ex-American consul C.W.
LeGendre as Foreign Affair advisor. LeGendre participated in the
invasion planning, and at the same time, recommended to the Japanese
government: " Unless Japan take possession of the series of islands
from Karafuto (Sakhalin) Island in the north to Taiwan in the south,
encircling China mainland in a crescent shape, and maintain foothold
points in both Korea and Manchu, it is inadequate to ensure the safety
of Empire and control East Asia."
His suggestion stimulated the Japanese government tremendously,
and as a result, sowed the seed of Japan's ambition in invading Taiwan.
Almost all of Japan's China Mainland policies in the latter years were
based on this recommendation.
Rivaling
for control of Korea, China and Japan went to war on Aug. 1, 1894.
By the year end, with victory in sight, Kowashi Inoue, ex-advisor
to the Emperor, presented to Prime Minister Hirobumi Ito, a letter in
Chinese, commenting: "Everyone knows that we must fight for the
sovereignty of Korea, but nobody knows that Taiwan is even more worth
fighting for... Korea is
unable to be independent after all...
To become its protector may win an honorable name of chivalry,
but there is hardly any real profit, while in the case of Taiwan, there
is. With Taiwan in Japan's possession, we can not only control the
navigation rights of Yellow Sea, Korea Strait as well as Japan Sea, but
also able to open and shut the door of Far East region. Moreover,
linking with Ryukyu and Yaejima Islands, we can check on the coming and
going foreign vessels with stretch of one hand.
If this big island falls into other hands, it would disturb the
peace of our Okinawa islands, and therefore, make a world of difference
in pros and cons to the contrary... If we lost this opportunity, Taiwan would surely fall into
the possession of some big country, or become neutral and no longer a
place to contend", Inoue explained the importance of owning Taiwan,
and pointed out that it is now or never.
At this time, Junkuro Nakamura, a subordinate of Supreme Command,
and concurrently a naval professor, also presented the
"Recommendation Related to Taiwan Occupation" to Motonori
Kabayama, then naval commander in chief, stoutly insisted that:
"Taiwan is the throat of South China Sea, we must take it and
include in Japan's territory".
The
Supreme Command accepted the opinions of Inoue and Nakamura, and in
January 1895, decided to occupy Penghu islands.
On March 26, while the Sino-Japanese peace negotiation was still
in progress at Shimonoseki, Japan dispatched Hishijima Branch Unit to
Penghu Island and occupied it. In
order to block up the Ch'ing government's reinforcement to Taiwan,
occupying Penghu Island was not only necessary but also an effective
strategy. The occupation
gave a great shock to the government and residents in Taiwan, who became
worried about Japan's plan of occupying Taiwan.
Although a cease-fire agreement was signed on March 30 between
Japan and the Ch'ing governments, because Taiwan and Penghu islands were
excluded from the cease-fire zone, uneasy emotion of the Taiwanese
increased even more, while the rumor about secession of Taiwan and
Penghu islands became more realistic. During the peace talk, the Ch'ing
government tried very hard to hide the circumstances relating the
secession of Liaotung Peninsula and Taiwan, however, the government and
residents in Taiwan got the news from foreign business firms, and were
aware of the outline of the peace conference.
In
October of 1894, when the Sino-Japanese War first began, the British
government had already noticed Japan's territorial ambition toward
Taiwan, and urged London Times to report it so as to attract worldwide
attention. France was also
strongly opposed to Japan's occupation of Taiwan, and indicated they
would opt to use of force to stop it.
Encouraged by these actions, Chang Tze-tung, Ch'ing's concurrent
governor of Chiangshi and Chiangsu, tried to borrow several tens of
million Liangs (silver) from Britain using Taiwan as security, but was
refused. In the same
period, a French fleet arrived at Penghu Island, broke the news that
Japanese forces will soon attack the island, and the French government
suggested to the Ch'ing government to temporarily secede Taiwan to
France, and return after the war. However, this suggestion was strongly
opposed by Yung-fu Liu, who was famous for his brave act in defending
Taiwan during the Sino-Franco War, and had not been brought to
realization. Penghu Island
was occupied by Japanese troops soon after.
Taiwan
Democratic Republic
On
April 17, 1895, the Sino-Japanese Peace Treaty was signed.
From the beginning to the end, the Ch'ing government failed to
inform the government and residents of Taiwan concerning this matter.
It was Chang Tze-tung, the Taiwan Governor, Tang Ching-sun’s
teacher, who told him the content of Shimonoseki Treaty regarding
secession of Taiwan and Penghu islands.
The next day after the signing of the treaty, Chiu Fong-jia, a
well-known brilliant Taiwanese, visited Tang Ching-sun, and told him
that Taiwan residents were opposed to the secession, and intended to
fight to the last. On April
19, the Ch'ing government office, which was responsible for foreign
affairs, officially notified the secession of Taiwan and Penghu islands.
In the notification, it was written: "Secession of Taiwan is
inevitable. Although Taiwan
is important, but is less important if compared with the nation's
capital. Taiwan is also an
isolated island on the sea, impossible to defend.... etc.".
Taiwan residents fell into deep despair and indignation.
After
the signing of Shimonoseki Treaty, the French government once prepared
to send troops to Taiwan to prevent the Japanese from occupying Taiwan,
but stopped short because a disturbance occurred in their own colony,
Madagascar Island. On May
11, the French minister stationed at Peking advised the Ch'ing Foreign
Department about this, but Taiwan residents kept on expecting help from
France. Chiu Fong-jia went
to see Tang Ching-sun, did his best to urge him to stay in Taiwan.
After their meeting, Chiu issued the following statement showing
the intention of Taiwan independence: "Taiwan has already been
abandoned by the Ch'ing court, the people of Taiwan have no one to
depend on, but only to defend themselves to the last."
On May 19, although being one step late, but a French battleship
arrived in Taiwan, and Chen Chi-tung, ex-minister of the Ch'ing legation
in Paris, visited the French captain and talked about concluding a
treaty to acquire French protection upon independence, or the
possibility of intervention by French to stop the secession of Taiwan.
Later, the French captain also returned a visit to Tang Ching-sun. At that time, Taiwanese elites and residents, who advocated
fighting to the last, were so eager that they could careless about what
kind of help they get, their minds were already made for Taiwan
independence.
With
the preparation of Taiwan independence swiftly under way, a
"Declaration of the Independence of Taiwan Democratic
Republic" was proclaimed on May 23, 1895.
On May 24, the Declaration was translated into several foreign
languages and distributed to various consulates stationed in Taiwan, and
on the 25th, an Independence Ceremony was held.
It was written courageously in the Declaration of Independence:
"The Japanese have been high-handed, trying to annex our Taiwan ...
now that the Japanese are coming, the situation is extremely urgent.
If we surrender to the enemy, our homeland shall fall into the
barbarian hands... We have
already conferred with various countries, and upon our independence, we
shall certainly gain their support.
All residents devoted to Taiwan do not wish to give up and serve
the enemy, and would rather die in battle...
A decision is made unanimously to become an independent
Democratic Republic...”. Tang
Ching-sun was recommended as the president of Taiwan Democratic
Republic, and at the same time, "Yellow Tiger Flag" (a yellow
tiger with blue background) was chosen as national flag, a seal of state
with the inscription of "Seal of Democratic Republic" was
made, and "Yung Ch'ing" was decided as the name of the new
era. Thus, the first republic in Asia was born.
However, with failure to obtain recognition from other countries,
and under attack by the Japanese troops, it vanished soon into the air.
The
key personnel of the Democratic Republic were: Tang Ching-sun,
President; Chiu Fong-jia, Vice-president and concurrently Chief of
Volunteer Army; Yu Ming-tseng, Minister of Interior; Chang Chi-tung,
Minister of Foreign Affairs; Li Bing-rei, Minister of National Defense;
and General Liu Yung-fu, chief of Southern Taiwan Defending Force, etc.
Lin Wei-guan, the wealthiest man in Taiwan, was recommended for
the president of National Assembly, but he insisted on declining it;
after donating one million Liangs of silver to the Democratic Republic,
he secretly sneaked away to Amoy on the next day of the Independence
ceremony. Although Tang
Ching-sun took office as the president of the Democratic Republic, just
like all other civilian and military officials from China, his heart was
absent from Taiwan. The
truth was that being forced to assume the office, Ching-sun Tang was
prepared to escape any time from the beginning.
Taiwan
Democratic Republic was formed in a rush, and has been mocked as an
impatient and thoughtless act. However,
the idea of having Taiwan independence was not a bad one, considering
the situation at that time, it was actually the best choice available. The problem lied in the fact that Taiwan was overly dependent
on the French aid, but considering the circumstances in which America
became independent with French supports, one can hardly criticize that,
"self-reliance is better than expecting help from others”.
Due to intervention by Russia, Germany, and France, Liao-tung
Peninsula was not included in the secession to Japan in Sino-Japanese
peace treaty. European
powers was satisfied with the results and lost interest in Japan's
annexation of Taiwan. This
also greatly influenced the survival of Taiwan Democratic Republic.
The wrong choice of leaders was an even more serious mistake.
The Ch'ing bureaucrats were all greedy, selfish, and dishonest,
Tang Ching-sun was no exception. He
utilized his position as the governor, immediately after the Shimonoseki
Peace Treaty was signed, remitted 400,000 Liangs of public funds to
Shanghai, getting ready for escape long before hand.
On June 4, 1895, not long after the Japanese troops landed on
Taiwan, Tang Ching-sun left Taipei pretending to inspect the front line.
On June 6, he boarded on a German steamship with his trusted
guards, and fled to Amoy. It
was only two weeks from the celebration of the Democratic Republic's
independence. As to Li
Bing-rei, the National Defense Minister, he ran even faster than Tang.
But, after the runaways were gone, the anti-Japanese activities
of the remaining devoted "Taiwanese" had officially begun.
Japanese
Troops' Occupation of Taiwan
After
signing the Sino-Japanese
Peace Treaty, the Japanese government, concerned with the unrest
Taiwanese people, and in fear of intervention from foreign countries,
was in a hurry to take over Taiwan.
On May 10, 1895, Motonori Kabayama, who had had an investigation
trip to Taiwan, and had now been promoted to admiral, was appointed as
the governor of Taiwan; and Jun Mizuno as deputy chief of Civil
Administration. An
organized party headed by Governor Kabayama embarked for Taiwan on May
24, joined on May 27 with the Konoe Division led by Prince Yoshihisa
Kitashirakawa, and started to land on Taiwan on May 29.
The hand over was not done at Taipei as previously arranged, but
was done on the sea off Cape San Diego on June 2, at the strong request
from Li Ching-fan (son of Li Hong-chang), the Ch'ing ambassador
plenipotentiary. In fear of
attack by the angry Taiwanese residents, he deemed it impossible to
carry out the hand over procession peacefully on land.
Thus, under the international law, Taiwan's jurisdictional right
was turned over to Japan.
The occupation of Japanese
troops began by landing at Audeh, north of Cape San Diego.
At that time, the military forces of Taiwan Democratic Republic,
including the regular armies of Hsiang Brave (Hunan soldiers) and Guang
Brave (Guangdong soldiers) and the Taiwanese militias, were estimated to
be approximately 50,000 to 100,000.
However, moral of the regular armies was low, and they were badly
disciplined. On the other
hand, the morale and discipline of the militias were better. The
Japanese troops, whose destination was the capital Taipei, avoided
Tamsui and Keelung, which were under defense by the regular armies, and
landed on Audeh, for they did not know the facts about Hsiang and Guang
Braves. After landing, the
Japanese troops passed the San Diego Cliff, a well-known natural
stronghold, and with support of bombardment from the battleships outside
the Keelung harbor, occupied Keelung on June 6.
On the same date, Tang Ching-sun, the president of Taiwan
Democratic Republic escaped to Amoy, and the Japanese governor Kabayama
also landed at Keelung.
The
fall of Keelung to the Japanese troops shocked the city of Taipei.
Hsiang Braves and Guang Braves, who were retreating from Keelung,
plundered and committed outrages on the way.
The situation within the city of Taipei was similar; the defeated
troops suddenly rushed in, plundering and setting fire everywhere. Around this time, Ko Heng-Eng, a man from Lukang, who was
entrusted by the elite businessmen and foreigners, went to Keelung to
request the Japanese army to enter Taipei city as soon as possible.
He offered to serve as a guide himself.
Moreover, on June 7, when the Japanese advance party arrived at
Taipei, a city woman by the name of Chen Fat lowered down a ladder from
the wall, and helped the Japanese troops enter the city without shedding
any blood. With Taipei
under control, the Japanese troops moved immediately to Tamsui for
suppression, and occupied it on June 9.
So far, the important footholds in northern Taiwan, namely
Taipei, Keelung and Tamsui had all been controlled by the Japanese
troops. On June 17,
Governor Kabayama presided over a ceremony announcing the commencement
of his administration at the ex-Ch'ing governor's office.
Since then, until the year Japan gave up Taiwan, similar
ceremony was held celebrating "anniversary of
administration commencement" on that date. The ex-Ch'ing governor's office at that time, was also where
the ceremony of the Independence of Taiwan Democratic
Republic took place. During the Japanese era, it was
rebuilt as Tapei Public Hall, and later after Japan
was defeated in World War II, it was where the ceremony
of Japanese surrendering to the Kuomintang regime of the
Republic of China took place. Since then, it has been called "Chungshan Memorial
Hall" till today. Having
witnessed various changes in Taiwan from the beginning to the end, this
building is undoubtedly a "silent witness" of the history.
Collapse
of Taiwan Democratic Republic
Contrary
to the Japanese army's expectation, suppression of the north was easily
achieved. If everything
goes as it had been, it did not seem to take much more time to pacify
the entire Taiwan. However,
this was a wrongful expectation. When
the Japanese troops pushed southward on June 19, 1895, they met strong
resistance from the residents and were forced into desperate battles; as
a result, an additional 7th Mixed Brigade was dispatched.
Moreover, Lieutenant General Tomonosuke Takajima was sent to
Taiwan to be the deputy governor, concurrently the commander of the
southern operation. Furthermore, on October 11, the Second Division led by
Maresuke Nogi was added to the operation.
So far, Japan mobilized two and half army divisions:
approximately, 50,000 men including 26,000 civilian personnel, 9,500
horse, which was equivalent to one third of entire army forces of Japan.
And the Japanese navy mobilized more than half of its combined
fleet. Even the Great
Ch'ing Empire had to submit to the new Japanese Empire.
How could Taiwan, an isolated island on the sea, confront with
Japan single-handedly and win. Nevertheless,
the Taiwanese people pathetically but fiercely resisted.
At
the time when Taiwan was seceded, the population was estimated to be
approximately 3,000,000, including 450,000 aborigines, and 2,550,000
immigrants. Most of the
immigrants lived in the middle and southern parts of Taiwan. Although after the reforms by Shen Bo-tseng and Liu
Ming-chuan, Taipei, became the political center, but the number of
residents in the northern regions was still relatively small.
Since the northern part had already been controlled by the
Japanese troops, and the Republic leaders and the Ch'ing armies had fled
one after another, the Japanese troops should have no problem
suppressing the rest of Taiwan, but on the contrary, they had fallen
into desperate battles. Because
great majority of the immigrants regarded Taiwan as the burying place of
their ancestors, their will to live and die here was so strong that
their resistance was also firm and stubborn.
The Japanese record about Taiwanese resistance describes “each
and every one of the Taiwanese residents was like a courageous soldier,
willing to risk his life. Moreover,
even the women had joined the fighting”.
It took as long as five months for the Japanese troops to
suppress the entire island, for they had encountered such a pathetic and
desperate resistance. However,
because the Taiwanese residents were so poorly equipped, fighting with
bamboo spears and old firearms against the Japanese army equipped with
modern weapons, they were doomed to lose the battle.
The
total number of the Taiwanese residents who were sacrificed in the
resistance, including died in action and massacred were estimated to be
14,000. As to the wounded,
though not clear, it was generally believed to be higher than the number
of the dead. Compared
to this, the Japanese troop died in action was only 278, and the number
of wounded was only 653. The
ratio of Japanese troops' casualties against that of the Taiwanese
residents was 1 to 50, therefore, the resistance was suicidal.
 
Some
of the things worth noticing about the resistance of the Taiwanese
residents are: the participation of women in the fighting and the
Taiwanese guerilla war tactics. In
addition, the fact that about 700 aborigine warriors from Taitung, who
fought together with the immigrants in the west, was also worth to be
noted. Aborigines and the immigrants had often been antagonistic for
a long time; their participation in the battle was very unusual.
Moreover, through hopeless resistance, not only immigrant
consciousness had faded, the ethnic groups of Hakka, Fukien, Chang-zhou
and Chuan-zhou, who used to fight with each other all the time, were
united together. A new
"Taiwanese" consciousness and hope in the future have grown
among them.
After the leaders such as President Tang Ching-sun , Vice President and concurrently Militia Commander
Chiu Fong-jia , fled the country one after the other, the
foundation of the Taiwan Democratic Republic was ready to collapse, but the issuance of paper money and postal
stamps were continued for raising funds. The "Taiwan
Democratic Republic Stamps" issued at that time are
highly valued among the stamp collectors today. Towards
the end of June, 1895, the great general, Liu Yung-fu was
recommended as the President in Tainan, but Liu firmly
declined, and the re-organized National Assembly was also
nihilistic. Because the tide of war was unfavorable and
the soldiers under his command fled one after another, Liu Yung-fu
proposed a peace talk to Commander Takajima
of the Southward Advance Unit on October 10, but was
refused. Being afraid what had happened in Taipei might repeat in Tainan, the local and foreign businessmen in
Tainan persuaded Liu to leave. On October 19, Liu Yung-fu boarded on an English steamship from Anping and fled to Amoi. After Liu
Yung-fu was gone, the Taiwan residents
lost the central leadership, and the Taiwan Democratic
Republic officially collapsed. Since its founding on May
25, 1895, the Taiwan Democratic Republic only
survived for 148 days. Born during exciting national upheaval
and disappeared after heroic but pathetic
battles, the episode was recorded in one chapter of Taiwan history,
which moved readers with tears.
However,
Taiwan Democratic Republic had collapsed, but the Taiwanese people went
on resisting the Japanese.
After Yung-fu fled, the local and foreign businessmen in fear of
chaos in Tainan, recommended Thomas Barclay, an English missionary, as
the messenger to bring the Japanese troops into the city.
Finally, on October 21, the Japanese troops were able to enter
the city without shedding any blood, and with scattering resistance
still going on in various places, the Konoe Division started to withdraw
to Japan on November 12.
Governor Kabayama reported to the Supreme Command that the whole
island of Taiwan has already been "suppressed".
|
