Summary
Highlights
When Europeans first encountered Taiwan in the 1500s, Portuguese sailors named it 'Ila Formosa' or 'beautiful island'. Although the Portuguese didn't settle, the Dutch and Spanish colonized it, adopting the name Formosa. The island was primarily inhabited by Malayo-Polynesian tribes, not ethnically Chinese people. The Dutch encouraged mass migration from China to build their colonial workforce but their harsh rule lasted only a few decades.
In 1644, the Qing Dynasty overthrew the Ming Dynasty on the mainland. Ming loyalists, led by Koxinga (Jang Chang gong), fled to Formosa, expelling the Dutch in 1662 and establishing the Kingdom of Tungning. Koxinga aimed to use Taiwan as a base to reclaim the mainland, but after his death, the Qing Dynasty eventually recaptured the island, expanding China's territory.
Following a defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War in 1895, the Qing ceded Taiwan to Japan, making it Japan's first colony. On the mainland, the Qing Dynasty faced rebellions and in 1911, the Chinese Revolution ended China's imperial history, establishing the Republic of China under the Nationalist Kuomintang party. The mainland became fragmented under warlord rule.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was established in 1921. The Kuomintang initially allied with the CCP and Soviet Union to unify China, but this alliance was fraught and led to a civil war, briefly interrupted by a united front against Japan in WWII. After Japan's defeat in 1945, Taiwan was ceded to China. By October 1, 1949, Mao Zedong declared the People's Republic of China, and the Kuomintang under Chiang Kai-shek retreated to Taiwan, establishing it as the seat of the Chinese government in exile.
Inspired by Ming loyalists, the Kuomintang initially planned to retake the mainland. However, after struggling with pro-democracy opposition, they pursued domestic reforms, abandoned territorial ambitions, and focused on economic prosperity. Today, Taiwan boasts a flourishing democracy and dominates the global semiconductor market. Its thriving democracy, in stark contrast to present-day China's autocracy, presents an unacceptable risk to Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party, who view reunification as completing Mao's work.