The military history of Taiwan spans at least 400 years and is the history of battles and armed actions that took place in Taiwan and its surrounding islands. The island was the base of Chinese pirates who came into conflict with the Ming dynasty during the 16th century. From 1624 to 1662, Taiwan was the base of Dutch and Spanish colonies. The era of European colonization ended when a Ming general named Koxinga (Zheng Chenggong) retreated to Taiwan as a result of the Ming-Qing War and ousted the Dutch in 1661. The Dutch held out in northern Taiwan until 1668 when they left due to indigenous resistance. Koxinga's dynasty ruled southwestern Taiwan as the Kingdom of Tungning and attacked the Qing dynasty during the Revolt of the Three Feudatories (1673–1681).
In 1683, the Qing invaded Taiwan and ousted the Zheng regime, establishing Taiwan Prefecture (later Taiwan Province) in southwestern Taiwan. The Qing administration lasted for over two centuries, during which it rarely tried to conquer the Taiwanese indigenous peoples and instead tried to restrict settlers from entering Taiwan. Despite official restrictions, Han Chinese settlers increased and crossed into indigenous territory across the western Taiwanese plain, leading to conflicts with indigenous peoples in central and northeastern Taiwan. Most rebellions during the Qing period occurred due to Han discontent while the indigenous people were left to their own devices.
The Qing ceded Taiwan and Penghu to the Empire of Japan after losing the First Sino-Japanese War in 1895. There was brief military resistance from Qing forces in Taiwan before retreating, after which decades of Japanese military suppression followed. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Taiwan served as a base for invasions of China, and later Southeast Asia and the Pacific during World War II. Some Taiwanese served in the Japanese military, although not in combat positions until in the late stages of the war. Some 207,000 Taiwanese served in the Imperial Japanese military and 50,000 Taiwanese Imperial Japanese Servicemen went missing in action or died.
Following World War II and the retreat of the Republic of China to Taiwan in 1949, Taiwan's military has been the Republic of China Armed Forces. Until 1972, a primary aim of the Chiang Kai-shek-controlled armed forces was to retake mainland China by large-scale invasion. In the modern era, the focus of Taiwan's military has been national defense to thwart any possible attacks primarily from the People's Republic of China and its People's Liberation Army forces.
Early conflicts
Early records refer to an eastern island named Yizhou, to which troops of Three Kingdoms state of Eastern Wu visited as early as 230. Some scholars believe this island was Taiwan, while others dispute the theory. The Book of Sui relates that Emperor Yang of the Sui dynasty sent three expeditions to a place called "Liuqiu" early in the 7th century. Historically, the name Liuqiu (whose characters are read in Japanese as Ryukyu) referred to the island chain to the northeast of Taiwan, but some scholars believe it may have referred to Taiwan in the Sui period. Okinawa Island may have been referred to by the Chinese as "Great Liuqiu" and Taiwan as "Little Liuqiu".
During the Song dynasty, Han Chinese fishermen settled on the Penghu Islands by 1171, when "Bisheye" bandits, a Taiwanese people related to the Bisaya of the Visayas, landed on Penghu and plundered fields planted by Chinese migrants. The Song dynasty sent soldiers after them, and from that time on Song patrols regularly visited Penghu in the spring and summer. A local official, Wang Dayou, stationed troops there to prevent depredations from the Bisheye.
During the Yuan dynasty, a patrol and inspection agency () was set up in Penghu around 1281, and Han Chinese people were recorded to have visited Taiwan. Yuan emperor Kublai Khan sent officials to the Ryukyu Kingdom in 1292 to demand its loyalty to the Yuan dynasty, but the officials ended up in Taiwan and mistook it for Ryukyu. After three soldiers were killed, the delegation immediately retreated to Quanzhou in China. Another expedition was sent in 1297.
The Chinese pirates Lin Daoqian and Lin Feng visited Taiwan in 1563 and 1574 respectively. Lin Daoqian was a Hakka pirate from Chaozhou who was chased out of Fujian in 1563 by Ming naval forces led by Yu Dayou and fled to Beigang in southwestern Taiwan. He left the next year to ravage the mainland and stayed active in the region until 1578 when he left for Southeast Asia. Lin Feng moved his pirate forces to Wankan (in modern Chiayi County) in Taiwan on 3 November 1574 and used it as a base to launch raids. They left for Penghu after being attacked by natives and the Ming navy dislodged them from their bases. He later returned to Wankan on 27 December 1575 but left for Southeast Asia after losing a naval encounter with Ming forces on 15 January 1576. The pirate Yan Siqi also used Taiwan as a base.
Chen Di visited Taiwan in 1603 on an expedition against the Wokou pirates. The pirates were defeated and they met a native chieftain who presented them with gifts. Chen recorded these events in an account of Taiwan known as Dongfanji (An Account of the Eastern Barbarians) and described the natives of Taiwan and their lifestyle.
In 1616, the Tokugawa shogunate sent a fleet of 13 ships and 4,000 warriors in an attempt to conquer Taiwan as part of a larger campaign to strengthen Japanese sea power and facilitate its silk trade. Due to a typhoon, the invasion forces were dispersed, and only one ship reached Taiwan.Jansen, Marius B. (1992). China in the Tokugawa World. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Recent Trends in Scholarship on the History of Ryukyu's Relations with China and Japan Gregory Smits, Pennsylvania State University, p.13
Dutch and Spanish colonies (1624–1662)
Early contact In 1542, Portuguese sailors arrived in Taiwan and noted it on their maps as Ilha Formosa (lit. 'beautiful island'). In 1582, the survivors of a Portuguese shipwreck spent 45 days battling malaria and aborigines before returning to Macau.
Defeated by the Portuguese at the Battle of Macau in 1622, the Dutch East India Company attempted to take Penghu in 1624, building Fengguiwei Fort in Magong. Dutch forces were driven out by Ming authorities and retreated to a sandy peninsula of Tayuan (present-day Anping District) and built a defensive fort to act as a base of operations. This temporary fort was replaced four years later by the more substantial Fort Zeelandia.
Dutch ships wrecked at Liuqiu in 1624 and 1631; their crews were killed by the inhabitants. In 1633, an expedition consisting of 250 Dutch soldiers, 40 Chinese pirates, and 250 Taiwanese natives were sent against Liuqiu Island but met with little success.
Dutch colonization
The Dutch allied with Sinkan, a small village that provided them with firewood, venison and fish. In 1625, they bought land from the Sinkanders and built the town of Sakam for Dutch and Chinese merchants. Initially the other villages maintained peace with the Dutch. In 1625, the Dutch attacked 170 Chinese pirates in Wankan but were driven off. Encouraged by the Dutch failure, Mattau warriors raided Sinkan. The Dutch returned and drove off the pirates. The people of Sinkan then attacked Mattau and Baccluan, and sought protection from Japan. In 1629, Pieter Nuyts visited Sinkan with 60 musketeers. After Nuyts left, the musketeers were killed in an ambush by Mattau and Soulang warriors. On 23 November 1629, an expedition set out and burned most of Baccluan, killing many of its people, who the Dutch believed harbored proponents of the previous massacre. Baccluan, Mattau, and Soulang people continued to harass company employees until late 1633 when Mattau and Soulang went to war with each other.
In 1635, 475 soldiers from Batavia arrived in Taiwan. By this point even Sinkan was on bad terms with the Dutch. Soldiers were sent into the village and arrested those who plotted rebellion. In the winter of 1635 the Dutch defeated Mattau and Baccluan. In 1636, a large expedition was sent against Liuqiu Island. The Dutch and their allies chased about 300 inhabitants into caves, sealed the entrances, and killed them with poisonous fumes. The native population of 1100 was removed from the island. They were enslaved with the men sent to Batavia while the women and children became servants and wives for the Dutch officers. The Dutch planned to depopulate the outlying islands. The villages of Taccariang, Soulang, and Tevorang were also pacified. In 1642, the Dutch massacred the people of Liuqiu island again.
In 1636, Favorolang, the largest aboriginal village north of Mattau, killed three Chinese and wounded several others. From August to November, Favrolangers appeared near Fort Zeelandia and captured a Chinese fishing vessel. The next year the Dutch and their native allies defeated Favorolang. The expedition was paid for by the Chinese populace. When peace negotiations failed, the Dutch blamed a group of Chinese at Favorolang. The Favorolangers continued their attacks until 1638. In 1640 an incident involving the capture of a Favorolang leader and the ensuing death of three Dutch hunters near Favorolang resulted in the banning of Chinese hunters from Favorolang territory. The Dutch blamed the Chinese and orders were given to restrict Chinese residency and travel. No Chinese vessel was allowed around Taiwan unless it carried a license. An expedition was ordered to chase away the Chinese from the land and to subjugate the natives to the north. In November 1642, an expedition set out northward, killing 19 natives and 11 Chinese. A policy banning any Chinese from living north of Mattau was implemented. Later the Chinese were allowed to conduct trade in Favorolang with a permit. The Favorolangers were told to capture any Chinese who did not possess a permit.
Spanish colony
In 1626, Spanish forces landed at Cape Santiago in northern Taiwan. They eventually moved westward to modern-day Keelung, where they established Santisima Trinidad as a base for the new colony. They seized the territory from aboriginal inhabitants or destroyed their residences, promising to pay for the damages. According to historian Jose Eugenio Borao Mateo, the Spanish colonists did not ask for tribute from the aboriginal inhabitants, "because in practice they did not consider the natives as vassals, but as heathens to be converted, neighbors and service suppliers."
In 1641, governor of Dutch Formosa Paulus Traudenius launched an expedition on the Spanish settlement of San Salvador in modern-day Keelung. The Spanish positions were well-defended, and Dutch forces were not able to breach the walls of Fort San Salvador. In the following year, the Dutch launched a second assault and successfully captured San Salvador.
Guo Huaiyi rebellion On 8 September 1652, a Chinese farmer, Guo Huaiyi, and an army of peasants attacked Sakam. Most of the Dutch were able to find refuge but others were captured and executed. Over the next two days, natives and Dutch killed around 500 Chinese. On 11 September, four or five thousand Chinese rebels clashed with the company soldiers and their native allies. The rebels fled; some 4,000 Chinese were killed. The rebellion and its ensuing massacre destroyed the rural labor force. Although the crops survived almost unscathed, there was a below average harvest for 1653. However, thousands of Chinese migrated to Taiwan due to war on the mainland and a modest recovery of agriculture occurred. Anti-Chinese measures increased. Natives were reminded to watch the Chinese and not to engage with them. However, in terms of military preparations, little was done.
Koxinga's invasion