"Formosa Crisis (1874)" Topic

"A shipwreck in 1871 on Taiwan (Formosa) involving sailors from the Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa) grew in seriousness between that year and 1874, until it developed into a full-blown crisis between China and Japan. Japanese sailors from the Ryukyu Islands were marooned on Taiwan in 1871 as a result of a shipwreck. Some of the sailors were killed by native Taiwanese aboriginals. Japan, arguing that the Ryukyu Islands acknowledged Japanese suzerainty because residents paid tribute to Japan, claimed that the murdered sailors were subjects of the emperor and demanded that China provide some form of compensation or other redress for the actions of the Taiwanese aborigines. The Qing government, which, like Japan, also received tribute from the rulers of the Ryukyu Islands (Liujiu in Chinese), took no action. The dispute, therefore, went unresolved for a number of years.

Under pressure from militarists in Japan to resolve the matter, the Japanese government sent a naval expedition to Taiwan in 1874. At that time, the Qing dynasty had two officials who dealt with maritime and international matters: the commissioner of trade in South China, based in Nanjing, and the northern commissioner of trade in Tianjin. Although both positions had been created by the Qing Court to attend to issues involving foreign relations and to meet China's responsibilities relating to the Treaty of Tianjin, neither official had responsibility for coastal defense. At the time the crisis developed, Li Hongzhang was concurrently governor-general of Zhili and northern commissar of trade. Li Zongxi was southern commissioner of trade in Nanjing. The Qing Court directed both officials to address the Japanese threats, but it was Li Hongzhang who actually took action…"

link

Full article here
weaponsandwarfare.com/?p=35173

Amicalement
Armand

Their is a great movie about the Japanese invasion and the locals,called Warriors of the Rainbow,great film and wargaming campaign. Also the book "Lost Colony"about the Dutch -Sino war on Formosa in the 1600's,great book and again great gaming.

I see the film.
I enjoyed it a lot!.

Amicalement
Armand