In 1624, the Chinese attacked, and the Dutch were driven to Taiwan (then called Formosa, meaning "beautiful island").
Philip IVHouse of Habsburg(31 March 1621 – 17 September 1665) (29 June 1626 – 22 July 1632) Philip IVHouse of Habsburg(31 March 1621 – 17 September 1665) The Southern Ming (Ming dynasty loyalists) came to Taiwan under Koxinga, expelling the Dutch and capturing Fort Zeelandia.
Guangxu Emperor光緒皇帝(25 February 1875 – 14 November 1908) The Republic of Formosa was a short-lived republic that existed on the island of Taiwan in 1895 between the formal cession of Taiwan by the Qing dynasty of China to the Empire of Japan by the Treaty of Shimonoseki and its being taken over by Japanese troops.
(Birth–Death) 唐景崧 Táng Jǐngsōng (Mandarin)Tn̂g Kéng-siông (Taiwanese)Thòng Kín-chhiùng (Hakka)(1841–1903)President Yongqing 1-5-25Guangxu 21-5-2Meiji 28-5-25 Yongqing 1-6-5Meiji 28-6-5 劉永福 Liú Yǒngfú (Mandarin)Lâu Éng-hok (Taiwanese)Liû Yún-fuk (Hakka)(1837–1917)Commander-in-chief Yongqing 1-6-5Meiji 28-6-5 Yongqing 1-10-21Meiji 28-10-21 After the First Sino-Japanese War and establishing control over the island through the Treaty of Shimonoseki, the Japanese Empire used the French Empire model of an occupying force and were instrumental in the industrialization of the island; they built railroads, a sanitation system and a public school educational system, among other things.
In 1941, the Pacific War broke out when the Japanese Empire attacked the U.S. naval port of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.
By 1945, desperate plans were in place to incorporate popular representation of Taiwan into the Imperial Diet to end colonial rule of the island and transfer occupying troops to the front lines to fight the Allies.