Chapter 7 : Politics and Economy Under Japanese Colonial Rule

 

Outline

        After the Sino-Japanese War, Japan took over Taiwan and established the Taiwan Governor-General’s Office. Thus began the 51-year long Japanese Colonization. Out of resistance, officials and gentry in Taiwan founded the Formosan Republic. The Republic fell in months, but there were armed resistance against Japan for the next twenty years. The Japanese government quashed armed resistance with force and formulated an autocratic system of rule headed by the governor-general. Rule was reinforced by the Bao-Jia system, a traditional Chinese neighborhood mutual security system. As for economic developments, Japan began with agricultural reforms designed to provide the Japanese market with rice and cane sugar. After 1930, Japan introduced a policy of industrialization to build Taiwan into a “Southward Advance Base,” which would supply Japanese forces as they expanded the empire into Southeast Asia.

 

7-1 The Formosan Republic and Armed Resistances Against Japan

The Formosan Republic

In April, 1895 (Guangsyu Year 21, Ching dynasty), China and Japan signed the Treaty of Maguan (Simonoseki), which ceded Taiwan and Penghu to Japan. Officials and people in Taiwan asked the Ching government not to sign and even turned to other world powers for support. But eventually they had to fend for themselves after all these efforts proved fruitless. On May 25^th, 1895, the Formosan Republic was founded, with the then-governor Tang Jingsong as president. Civilian militias were established under the leadership of Ciou Fongjia. They were prepared to fight for their freedom.

        Unfortunately, the defense crumpled not long after Japan’s arrival. Tang Jingsong and Ciou Fongjia fled to mainland China. Japanese troops entered Taipei City in June and declared the beginning of their rule of Taiwan. At this time, there was still a stalwart resistance leader in Tainan: Liu Yongfu.

        By the end of June, Japanese troops headed south. There were three main forces: civilian militias in the north,[1] the New Chu Army in central Taiwan[2] and the Black Flag Militia[3] in the south. However, their military strength did not match the Japanese due to inferior manpower and weaponry. In the end of October, Liu Yongfu gave in and returned to China. The Formosan Republic collapsed and Tainan City fell into the hands of Japanese.

        To quash the resistance, Japan had sent out thousands of troops. The Taiwanese suffered tremendous losses. As many as 14,000 Taiwanese troops and civilians were killed.

 

Armed Resistance

        Although the Taiwan Governor-General’s Office declared in November, 1895 that it had pacified the island, armed resistance continued everywhere. Armed civilian resistance against Japan can be divided into two periods. The early period lasted until 1902. In this period, anti-Japanese incidents were continuous. The number of participants ranged from several hundred to several thousand. They resorted to guerilla tactics. Though the Japanese were taken by surprise by these attacks, all of these resistances failed.

        In the beginning, the colonial government took cruel retaliatory measures including indiscriminate killing, but this drove more civilians into anti-Japanese activities. Later, the colonial government adopted a new three code security system, in which regions were identified as “dangerous,” “unstable” and “stable.” Dangerous areas were administered by troops; unstable areas by military police; and stable areas by police. But this system did not work properly. In 1898, Governor General Kodama Gentaro adopted a quashing-and-pacifying strategy. To quash resistance, he increased the police force and made use of the local able-bodied men work corps.[4] To pacify the locals, he allowed them to surrender without threat of punishment. In 1902, all the anti-Japanese organizations fell apart, and civilian weapons were confiscated. In seven years, more than 10,000 civilians had been executed or died in battle.

        The later period of resistance was from 1907 to 1915. In this period, there were over ten anti-Japanese incidents aiming at expelling the Japanese. However, except for the Miaoli Incident and the Silai Temple (in present-day Tainan) Incident, the incidents were small-scale, with only a few dozen or hundred participants.

        By 1907, the colonial government had strict control over Taiwan society, so most anti-Japanese activities were detected in the initial planning stage. In 1913, 20 participants in the Miaoli Incident, including Luo Fusing, were executed. Their bravery impressed the Japanese officials who were present. In 1915, more than 2,000 people involved in the Silai Temple Incident were arrested, and more than one hundred people were executed, including the leader Yu Cingfang.

 

The Wushe Incident

        By October 1930, indigenous people in Wushe had had enough of Japanese bullying and repression. Led by their chief Mona Ludao, they attacked the Japanese during a sporting event at the Wushe public school, killed 134 Japanese people, and retreated into the mountains after seizing weapons and ammunition.

        To quash this rebellion, the colonial government dispatched more than two thousand soldiers and policemen armed with artillery, warplanes, and poison gas. After a resistance lasting more than fifty days, the indigenous people in Wushe were crushed. Of the 1,400 residents of the community, only 500 survived. In April 1931, the Japanese policemen incited pro-Japanese indigenous people to raid Wushe. Many of the surviving Wushe indigenes were killed in this raid.

        The Wushe Incident forced the colonial government to review its policies on indigenous people. The Taiwan Governor-General and other officials had to take responsibility and step down.

 

7-2 Political and Social Control

Autocratic rule by the Governor General

The Governor General was the leader of the colony, in charge of both military and administrative affairs. In 1896, one year after the Japanese took control, a discriminatory piece of legislation was enacted: Act 63. This Act granted the Governor General the right to promulgate executive orders with the power of law. The Governor General was the highest official. He had the right to appoint and remove other officials and control the courts. He commanded the army and navy of Taiwan. Thus, he had administrative, legislative, judicial and military power.

        The history of the political divisions under colonial rule is very complicated. The administrative system changed ten times between 1895 and 1945. Taiwan was no longer a province of China. It was now a prefectural-level colony of Japan. In the first six years of colonial rule (until 1901), Taiwan was divided into counties (xian) and sub-prefectures (ting). The counties had large cities in them while the sub-prefectures administered areas like Taitung and Penghu. From 1901 to 1920, Taiwan was divided exclusively into sub-prefectures. From 1920 to 1945, the administrative areas were departments (zhou) for areas with large cities and sub-prefectures (ting) for less populated areas. Local governments at the county, sub-prefecture or department levels lacked autonomy; local administrators had to follow the orders of the Governor General. Needless to say, the political divisions of Taiwan changed again after 1945.

 

A Typical Police State

From the very beginning of the Japanese colonization, the colonial government progressively expanded the police force, creating a tight security network, in order to quash anti-Japanese forces and ensure public security. The power of the police was also continually augmented. A policeman’s responsibilities were as follows:

1.                  Enforcing the law and securing social order by monitoring public meetings, judging minor criminal cases, clamping down on opium, superintending pawn shop businesses, etc.

2.                  Assisting local governments by handling general administrative matters, such as promulgating government decrees, collecting taxes, managing the household registry system to control migration, and conducting the household census.

3.                  Controlling indigenous villages.

In short, policemen were the center of local administration. They strongly controlled Taiwan society, interfered in people’s daily lives with fearsome authority. The use of the police in governance and the free rein given to the police in colonial Taiwan are typical features of police states.

 

The Bao-Jia System and Social Control

        In the Ching dynasty, the main function of the Bao-Jia system had been to assist the government in thwarting bandits and thieves and keeping communities safe. The colonial government expanded this system. A “Jia” was ten households and Ten “Jia” formed a “Bao”. The head of a Bao led one hundred households and the head of a Jia led ten households. The Bao-Jia system enforced collective responsibility and punishment. When a single person committed a crime, everyone in his Jia and Bao was punished. Seeing its value of keeping order, the colonial government set up an island-wide Bao-Jia system.

        The main functions of the Bao-Jia system were investigating households, monitoring migration, preventing infectious diseases, repairing bridges and paving roads, and performing obligatory labor. Able-bodied men in each Bao and Jia had to join the local work corps, which assisted in quashing anti-Japanese activities and conducting disaster relief. The government made different rules for different units to suit local circumstances. Everyone’s daily life was under tight control.

        In addition to assisting with general administrative affairs, the Bao-Jia system was used by the colonial government in campaigns for social reform, such as releasing bound feet, cutting the pigtail—the queue—that men grew, promoting the Japanese language, improving hygiene, and eliminating superstition. The Bao-Jia system was even used in agricultural reform.

 

The Sino-Japanese War and the Kominka Movement

        The Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1937. Since then, Japan implemented Kominka Movement, literally the Japanization Movement. This movement promoted the Japanese language, Japanese lifestyle, Japanese names, and Japanese deities, in order to instill loyalty to the Japanese emperor in the hearts of the Taiwanese people. Not long after the initiation of the Kominka Movement, the Japanese government recruited many Taiwanese into the army. Near the end of the war, conscription was used. The number of Taiwanese soldiers in the Japanese army was over 200,000.

 

7-2 Development of the Colonial Economy

Foundations of Economic Development

Early in the Japanese colonization, the colonial government actively carried out economic reforms for the benefit of Japan. Reforms included:

1.                  Reforming the land system:

The Japanese conducted land surveys and set up a new land ownership system. Tax revenues consequently increased.

2.                  Standardization of weights and measures:

New Japanese-style currency and measure units were introduced to unify the complicated traditional measures.

3.                  Communication and Transportation:

There were postal bureaus everywhere for handling mails, telegraphs and telephones. Roads were built. The railroad from Keelung to Kaohsiung was finished. Keelung Port and Kaohsiung Port were modernized. Ships of ten thousand tons could dock there. Part of Magong Castle (present-day Magong, Penghu) was torn down to build a port.

4.                  Conducting a regular census:
In 1905, the Japanese conducted the first census in the history of Taiwan. At that time, Taiwan had about 3.1 million people; starting from 1915, censuses were conducted every five years.

 

Agricultural Reform

        Not long after the beginning of the Japanese colonization, the colonial government initiated the policy of “Industrial Japan, Agricultural Taiwan.” Taiwan was viewed as a producer of rice and cane sugar to feed Japanese bellies. Reforms included:

1. Establishing agricultural research centers to develop new varieties of rice and sugar, supply chemical fertilizers and teach new agricultural techniques.

2. Establishing agricultural associations to distribute new crop varieties, spread new agricultural techniques and offer loans.

3. Digging irrigation channels in order to increase the amount of cultivatable land. The most famous irrigation project was the Jian’an Canal in southern Taiwan, designed and constructed by Hata Yooichi to irrigate 150,000 hectares of land.

 

Increased Production of Rice and Sugar

        Agricultural reform allowed more land to be brought under cultivation and more fields to harvest two crops a year. Rice production rose sharply, particularly after 1922 when Japanica rice (Ponlai rice) was successfully planted in Taiwan. The colonial government promoted or even enforced the plantation of Japanica rice all around the island. Rice production for export to Japan grew tremendously.

        Taiwan was also a major producer of cane sugar. After improving cultivation, the production of sugar cane per unit area increased significantly. More land was planted with sugar cane, too.

        Not long after the Japanese colonization began, the colonial government decided to modernize the sugar industry. To encourage, support and protect developing Japanese sugar companies, the colonial government took three major steps: financial aid, designated regions where farmers were obliged to plant sugar cane for certain companies, and market protection. Japanese capitalists rushed to Taiwan, turning the sugar industry into a model modern industry. The production of cane sugar increased continuously, reaching a high annual production level of 1.5 million tons. In this way, Taiwan became a Sugar Kingdom.

 

Industrialization

       During the Japanese colonization, Taiwan economy was focused on agriculture. There was some industrial development, but only farm produce processing, such as pineapple canning. However, starting in the 1930s, Japan pursued a new policy of “Southward Advance,” whereby they aimed to expand the Japanese empire through southern China and Southeast Asia. This policy required more industrialization in Taiwan, especially the development of military-related heavy industries. This policy turned Taiwan into a production and supply base for Japan’s southward expansion.

        Industrialization not only benefited the agricultural processing industry, but also brought about significant growth in the chemical, metal, and machinery industries. Taiwan was thus transformed into a mixed agricultural-industrial society.