The Dutch had a very strategic position on the Pescadores, being able to control most of Fujian's shipping. However, politically the action was less wise - the Pescadores were Chinese territory, and of course the Chinese could not accept foreign troops on their soil, certainly not if those troops were used to control Chinese subjects. After Van Nijenroode's attack, apparently impressed by the firing power of the Dutch ships, the Fujian provincial authorities decided to start negotiations. In Feb 1623, after travelling for four weeks by foot from Amoy, Reijersen reached Fuzhou for negotiations with the Chinese. There Reijersen agreed to evacuate the fort on Peng-hu, but only with permission from Batavia, and again only if the Fujianese ceased trading with Manila. Significantly, at the meeting Governor Shang Zhouzo of Fujian provided the Dutch with a guide to take them to Formosa (Taiwan).
In 1624, the Dutch having failed to observe their promise to evacuate the fort, the new governor Nan Juyi set out to reconquer the Pescadores by force. The Chinese landed at the northern end of Penghu, some distance from the Dutch cannon, and launched their attack on the Dutch position in July 1624. In the summer of 1624 Marinus Sonck took over the command of the fort. Li Dan, head of the illegal Chinese traders on Taiwan, was selected as an intermediary by the Chinese and commissioned to convince the Dutch to withdraw. On 25 August 1624 Sonck eventually succumbed to the Chinese demands and moved his contingent to Formosa, building there the factory of fort Zeelandia. The Dutch forbade Li Dan the trade with Japan, and monopolized the harbour, with the result that Li Dan and his men effectively became pirates in Dutch service, attacking the trade between China and Manila.
In 1627 Zheng Zhilong (known to the Dutch as Iquan), one of the Dutch pirates, shifted his allegiance to the Chinese. After seeing off Simsou, he was promoted to the rank of admiral by the governor of Fujian and established for himself the monopoly on the trade with the Dutch. That same year, the reverend Georgius Candidius arrived in Formosa to preach among the people of Sinkan, the village closest to Fort Hollandia, and the only one with which the Dutch actually had contact. In July 1629 governor Pieter Nuyts launched an expedition against Chinese smugglers on the island of Mattau. The smugglers had left by the time his men arrived, but the Formosans attacked the Dutch, expelling them from Sinkan and burning their possessions. the next month, Nuyts was replaced by Pieter Putmans, who had the intention to extend Dutch interests to the rest of Formosa. Formosa had a rich population of deer, and their hides brought a good price in Japan. The local fishermen traded these deerskins with Chinese traders, for salt and iron tools. The Dutch hoped to be able to control this trade, so they could get taxation from it. Putmans also wanted to convert the Formosans to Christianity, and invite Chinese farmers to produce both food products and export products.
In 1633 Putmans attempted to open up trade with Amoy by force, but was beaten off by Iquan. However, by the following year a regular trade with China had been established, albeit only though the monopoly of Zheng Zhilong and his traders. In 1635 Dutch reinforcements finally arrived from Batavia and military expeditions were sent out across Taiwan under the reverend Robertus Junius. y 1636 all villages in the southwestern plains of Formosa had conceded to Dutch supremacy. Only the warriors of the nearby island of Lamey resisted, but were subsequently overcome with the help of Formosan allies. All villages that were conquered by the Dutch were set up in a similar form of government, with a village council of village elders at the head. Dutch missionaries also got an important task in the villages: until the official officers would arrive, they were to be the Dutch power in the villages, and thus were responsible for collecting taxes and speaking justice. That same year (1636), Putmans instituted the renting of fields to Chinese workers. However, no Chinese actually settled on the island, being prohibited by law from residing for more than three years outside their country. Many Formosans had by that time converted to Christianity.
On 24-27 November 1641, the Dutch (led by governor Paulus Traudenius, accompanied by Junius) undertook a military expedition against various villages, which extended their influence across the entire western plain. This started the second phase of the Dutch expansion. In January and February 1642 a punitive expedition was launched against Tammacalauw on the east coast, and in August 1642, Traudenias captured (without any actual bloodshed) the Spanish fortress of San Salvador in Keelung, which had been established in 1626. The entire coastal plains were then under Dutch control (the inhabitants of the Taiwanese mountain areas were brought under central authority only in the twentieth century).
In 1646, Zheng Zhilong having been brought in captivity to Beijing by the Manchus, his son Cheng Cheng-kung (= Zheng Chenggong, known to the Dutch as Coxinga) took control, and until 1658 was the de facto ruler of the southeastern part of China, defying the Manchus by pledging alliance to the Ming dynastyIn 1652 the Jesuit Martino Martini arrived in Batavia with news that Coxinga was planning to attack Zeelandia. In response, governer-general Johan Maetsuyker despatched a ship to Taiwan to warn governor Nicolaes Verburch. Just at the day this ship arrives (8 September), the Chinese peasants revolt, led by Guo Haiyi (known to the Dutch as Fayet). The Chinese conquer the Dutch hamlet of Provintia, but the next day the Dutch and their Formosan allies counter-attack, and three days later the Chinese flee. 4000 farmers are killed in the fighting. Fort Provintia was then established near Saccam to maintain Dutch control of the Chinese population.
In 1655, Coxinga, angry that the Dutch had sent an embassy to the Manchu governement in Beijing, forbade Fujian trade with Taiwan. But by 1657, Governor Frederick Coyet, through intermediation of the Chinese interpreter Pinqua, had managed to obtain remission of the trade embargo. In 1658-59 the war in Fujian between the Manchu and Coxinga brought large numbers of refugees to Formosa. Coyet subsequently discovered that Pinqua was secretly levying taxes in name of Coxinga and sent a ship to Batavia, requesting help in an anticipated invasion by Coxinga. Although his fears were not entirely supported by the authorities, a ship with soldiers commanded by Jan van der Laan was despatched with orders that if he were not needed on Formosa he should attack Macao instead. Van der Laan arrived in September 1660 but, finding the situation stable, and unable to receive help in a campaign against Macao, returned to Batavia. As a result of Van der Laan's complaints against Coyet a new governor, Herman Klenke van Odessa,was appointed.
In the meantime, Coxinga had landed on Formosa with 25,000 men and, using Pinqua's knowledge of the local situation, cut off Fort Zeelandia from the rest of the island. The Dutch surrendered Provintia to Coxinga and withdrew to Zeelandia, their last stronghold. Klenke van Odessa left Batavia for Taiwan, but on arrival was unable to land, and returned to Batavia by way of Japan. News had in the meantime reached Batavia of the plight of the Dutch on Formosa, and a military force under Jacob Cauw was despatched to the island. However, his landing was delayed by a typhoon for a month, giving Coxinga time to prepare for the attack. Cauw left Taiwan, claiming he went to Fujian to get help from the Manchu, but in reality setting course to Siam. On 1 February 1662, Coyet surrendered to Coxinga, thus ending the Dutch period on Taiwan.
Between 1662 and 1665 the Dutch sent fleets under Balthazar Bort to China to help the Manchu in their war against Coxinga, during which the Dutch captured Amoy. Still, after having been beaten in Fuqian, Coxinga remains in control of Taiwan. It will take until 1683, that this island too is conquered by the Manchu. By 1689, the Dutch, having sent a few more trading embassies to Beijing, give up all hope of direct trade with China, leaving such trade to Chinese merchants operating into Batavia.
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This page, part of Discoverers Web was created by Ray Howgego and Andre Engels.