Japan's colonial rule a dark chapter of Taiwan island

Colonizers plundered rather than modernized island

By Cheng Zhaoyun

"Taiwan independence" separatists peddle the theory that the island saw modernization during Japanese colonial rule, while overlooking Japan's invasion and exploitation, even venerating colonial figures such as Yoichi Hatta.

However, this so-called "modernization" was essentially continued colonization of the island.

Instead, the island's modernization began under the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), with progress in sectors such as transport and industry, including railways, steamships, telegraphy, postal services and coal mining.

When Japan occupied the island, Taiwan already had a stronger economy under the late Qing Dynasty compared with Japan in the early days of the Meiji Restoration. Therefore, it is misleading to attribute Taiwan's growth solely to Japanese colonization.

The so-called colonial modernization was, in reality, Japan's exploitation of Taiwan's resources and people.

The colonial authorities seized large tracts of newly cultivated or ambiguously titled land, stripping local farmers of their land on dubious pretexts and transferring it to Japanese enterprises.

By the time of the island's restoration, more than six million of its residents held less than 30 percent of the land, with the rest being held by the Japanese.

Since the early 20th century, Taiwan's sugar production was largely shipped to Japan, with zaibatsu, such as Mitsui and Mitsubishi, monopolizing the island's modern sugar industry. Sugarcane farmers were stripped of any say in the cultivation and pricing of the crop.

Although rice production increased, it was mostly exported to Japan at low prices, forcing Taiwan people to turn to sweet potatoes. Emerging industrial sectors such as electricity and chemicals were also dominated by Japanese capital, which funneled substantial profits back to Japan, investing them in other industries and even overseas expansion.

The island's foreign trade was also controlled, with agricultural products and raw materials largely exported to Japan. In return, the Chinese island imported expensive fertilizers from Japan.

Following its full-scale invasion of China in 1937, Japan imposed a wartime regime on Taiwan, further exploiting its manpower, finances, trade, and agriculture. Farmers were allowed to keep only minimal grain for subsistence, with the rest requisitioned. Being tied to Japan's war chariot, Taiwan suffered heavy bombing by the US military during late World War II, which severely damaged its farmland, factories and other infrastructure.

Taiwan's postwar economic difficulties, including food shortages and unemployment, were direct results of Japanese colonial rule.

Japanese colonization left the Chinese island's economy structurally deficient. The colonial authorities integrated Taiwan into Japan's economic sphere through unified tariffs, currency and other measures.

By 1939, Taiwan's foreign trade was almost entirely dependent on Japan and its occupied territories.

Before the 1930s, Tokyo treated Taiwan primarily as an agricultural base, with industrialization limited to food industries such as rice and sugar. After the 1930s, industrialization was promoted to meet wartime needs, focusing on fertilizers, cement, aluminum, papermaking, and shipbuilding, but the industrial structure remained unbalanced.

During Japan's colonial rule, Taiwan residents were excluded from senior management roles in government and business.

Indigenous Taiwan capital was restricted to traditional sectors such as agriculture and small-scale crafts, while being barred from modern manufacturing, thus suppressing local investors. Local workers earned less than half of what Japanese workers in Taiwan did, and even their wage growth lagged significantly behind increases in labor productivity.

All of this proves that the claim that "Japan modernized Taiwan" is a complete fallacy.

The author is a research fellow at the Institute of Modern History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.