Journal paper

Issue No.	No. 69
Title	Revisiting German Colonial Ambitions for Formosa in the 1860s
Author	Yi-chen Hsieh
Page	43-76
Abstract	Based mainly on two pieces of evidence, it is sometimes asserted that nineteenth-century Germany had colonial designs on Taiwan. The first piece of evidence centers on discussions by some German speakers in the 1860s to turn Formosa, as Taiwan is referred to in these discussions, into a German colony. The second comes from the Da-Nan-Ao Incident (大南澳事件) of the 1860s, in which the German James Milich, working in concert with the British national James Horns, attempted to turn Nan-Ao in north-eastern Taiwan into a navy harbor, to be operated by the Germans. At the time, however, the various German states were busy with the project of German unification; they also lacked any history of lengthy engagement with East Asia. Why they would suddenly turn their attention to Taiwan, and why they would want to occupy a harbor too small to be of much military value are matters left unaddressed by traditional Marxist accounts of the period. This paper challenges previous scholarship and argues that Germany never had any real intention of turning Formosa into a German colony. It claims that the project of German unification was far more important than that of the colonization of Taiwan. Those who did advocate occupying Formosa were supporters of Prussian Expansionism. They believed that if they could portray Prussia as being in favor of colonization, they would strengthen Prussia’s position vis-à-vis Austria in the German Federation. But their call to colonize Taiwan was posturing on their part, not meant to be taken seriously.
Keyword	Germany, Imperialism, Taiwan’s Foreign Relations, Prussian Expedition to the Far East
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