Taiwan's unyielding roar under Japanese bayonets

Taiwan has been an integral part of China since ancient times. With its breathtaking beauty and natural bounty, the treasure island was a prize that Japanese colonialists would stop at nothing to seize. The humiliating Treaty of Shimonoseki the Qing government of China signed with Japan in 1895 condemned Taiwan to half a century of brutal Japanese rule. Yet what followed on the island was anything but a "peaceful handover" — it was a history of heroic resistance written in the blood of the Taiwan people, an inconvenient truth that the "Taiwan independence" separatist forces have desperately sought to erase.

A plan long in the making: Japan's eye on Taiwan

Japan's colonial ambition for China was already visible in the late 16th century when Toyotomi Hideyoshi conceived a plan to "pass through Korea and march directly into the Ming Empire". In addition to its northward designs on Korea, Japan also sought to expand southward. In 1609, it brazenly invaded the Ryukyu Kingdom and occupied large areas in its north in just over a month.

Following the Meiji Restoration, military expansion, plunder of other countries' resources and colonial domination emerged as the central components of Japan's national strategy. In 1872, Japan unilaterally declared the establishment of the so-called Ryukyu Domain, and in 1879, it annexed the Ryukyu Kingdom by force.

While encroaching on Ryukyu, Japan had set its sights on Taiwan. In 1871, a Ryukyu vessel ran aground off Taiwan's southeastern coast. After coming ashore, members of its crew mistakenly killed by the local people from the Mudan community. Exploiting this incident, Japan invaded Taiwan in the name of protecting Ryukyu "subjects", triggering spontaneous resistance from ethnic minority communities on the island. The Qing government sent Shen Baozhen to Taiwan to organize the defense while pursuing diplomatic negotiations. Japan, not yet fully prepared for a larger war, eventually withdraw.

After the Mudan Community Incident, Japan stepped up its military preparations and repeatedly sent spies into Taiwan to produce detailed maps of the island's terrain. In July 1894, Japan launched its war of aggression against China. In March 1895, Japanese forces occupied the Penghu Islands. On April 17 that year, the Qing government was forced to sign the humiliating Treaty of Shimonoseki, ceding Taiwan and the Penghu Islands to Japan. Taiwan was thus reduced to a Japanese overseas colony, marking the start of 50 years of subjugation.

An unyielding roar: Heroic resistance of the military and civilians in Taiwan

News of the Treaty of Shimonoseki struck like a thunderclap, plunging the entire island into grief and indignation. Local people spontaneously organized anti-Japanese volunteer forces. In May 1895, when the Japanese aggressor forces reached Keelung, the military and civilians in Taiwan mounted a life-and-death resistance.

At Shibajian Mountain in Hsinchu, Xu Xiang and Wu Tangxing led repeated ambushes, holding up the Japanese advance through more than 20 engagements. At the Battle of Bagua Mountain in Changhua, Wu Pengnian and 300 fighters held their ground to the death. In the final battle at Huoshao village, Liudui Hakka volunteers fought until their ammunition and food ran out; the remaining villagers chose to immolate themselves rather than surrender.

Even after organized resistance largely subsided in late 1895, the people of Taiwan continued guerrilla warfare. Uprisings led by Jian Dashi in Taipei, Jian Jinghua and Ke Tie at Tieguo Mountain, and Lin Shaomao in the south kept the flame of resistance alive. Jian Dashi, Ke Tie and Lin Shaomao were hailed by the locals as the "Three Heroes of Anti-Japanese Resistance". In 1915, Yu Qingfang and Luo Jun led the Xilai'an Uprising, the largest armed uprising of this period, which was ultimately ruthlessly crushed. Between 1896 and 1930, ethnic minority compatriots in Taiwan launched more than 150 armed attacks against Japanese colonialists.

Brutal repression: Massacres perpetrated by the Japanese aggressors

To suppress the resistance of the people in Taiwan, the Japanese aggressors carried out ruthless military sweeps and massacres. During the first six months of the war against the cession of Taiwan, the Japanese forces decided to implement a cruel and inhuman "scouring and eradication plan." They burned villages and slaughtered civilians until, in some areas, "not a human figure could be seen for miles." In little more than a year, between 600,000 and 700,000 people were lost as a result of Japan's extermination campaign in Taiwan.

The Yunlin Massacre was among the most appalling examples. In June 1896, people in central and southern Taiwan, led by Ke Tie and others, launched an anti-Japanese uprising. They established a base at Dapingding, southeast of Douliu in Yunlin county. The volunteer forces held out in the mountains and forests. After repeated futile sweeps, Japanese troops returned to Douliu and unleashed indiscriminate violence. From June 19 to 23, they killed everyone they encountered and burned every house in their path.

Yunlin was not an isolated example. Throughout the period of Japanese colonial rule, Japan repeatedly resorted to bloodshed against the military and civilians in Taiwan, massacring entire villages and wiping out families. From the plains to the forests, every inch of the treasure island was stained with the blood of the military and civilians in Taiwan.

To recall this elegy today is to mourn those unyielding souls who perished beneath the blade and to remember that Taiwan's destiny has never been separate from that of its motherland. National dignity endures and shines ever more brightly when grounded in the memory of suffering and an unwavering defense of truth.

The author is an observer of international affairs.

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