Heping Island and an Island on an Island, on an Island

 

I used my phone to take this shot yesterday at Heping Island (和平島), outside Keelung, Taiwan. Shufang and I came upon a sign. The sign indicated Spain controlled Heping first, then Holland. Holland never controlled any part of Taiwan. The Dutch East India Company, supported by mercenaries from all over Europe, landed here in 1624 with a charter from the Dutch government to earn and export, exploit and convert. The Dutch East India Company (VOC) expelled the Spaniards from Tamsui in 1640. Why the VOC would cross over to Heping Island, past boundaries that separated Chinese settlers from head-hunting aborigines as much as 250 years later is hard to fathom. 

The sign said the French captured Heping Island when the Sino-French War spilled into Taiwan in 1885. Over a dozen French POWs were beheaded on beachhead in the vicinity that year. Caves are punctured under beach cliffs (see above pic). The caves may have been occupied by Ryukyu fishermen, thought to have sailed off or melted into the local population once the Japanese arrived in 1895. The Japanese called the shores of Heping Island "Tatami Flats" as they resemble tatami mats placed side by side. 

A sign beside the trail also said the Japanese colonial era of Taiwan's history was a "Japanese Occupation." I looked up the difference between colonization and occupation. Seems they are different, and Taiwan was ceded to Japan in the Treaty of Shimonoseki (April 17, 1895): "Purpose and Intent" was the reply. "Colonization is usually driven by economic gain, territorial expansion, or the spread of culture and religion, often aiming to exploit resources and establish lasting influence over the local population." Done. The Japanese had the railroads built, hospitals and banks opened, schools and a university started, disease and squalor scrubbed out, livestock banished from livingrooms, the light let in. Learning Japanese is popular in Taiwan to this day. Japan is a major tourist destination of Taiwanese people. "Occupation, in contrast, is often motivated by strategic, political, or military reasons, such as securing a region." A foothold in Taiwan did not secure Asia or even Southeast Asia for Japan. Japanese airplanes did attack the American military at Clark Airbase in the Philippines the same day Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. Japanese Zeroes flew from Tainan, 46 years after arriving in Taiwan. Yes, Taiwan's shipping lanes are valuable now. In 1895, no Asian country had any meaningful shipping to speak of. Japan was just starting to build a navy. We have to remember Japan did not emerge from isolation until 1868 with the Meiji Restoration. When Japan tried to attack Taiwan six years later, Japan moved her forces on British steamships.  

I asked what a small island on a bigger island is called: an islet; meanwhile, an island in a river may be referred to as an ait or eyot. Holms are small islands near the coast.