Some Dutch settled at Gaoxiong in the 1621, alongside people commonly called aboriginies, and also alongside a few fishermen from China. In 1661 an army of 30,000 Chinese fled to Taiwan, led by the notorious Kolinga, wiping out the Dutch. But a little Dutch blood probably still runs through the veins of some Taiwanese.
In 1682, Taiwan was considered a part of Fujian province. By 1885, China's rulers considered it an independent province. The Japanese won control of Taiwan in 1895 and were the first to build a lot of roads, railways, hospitals, sugar plantations, et cetera, and they drove original Taiwanese from coastal areas into the higher elevasions.
The victors of World War II took Taiwan from the Japanese and returned it to China, without consulting the Taiwanese, of course. In 1945 Chiang Kai-shek sent Chen-yi to govern the island, and on February 28, 1947 Chen-yi initiated a massacre of tens of thousands of Taiwanese.
Chiang and a million people arrived from China in 1949, half of them military men, running from the Communists. Chen-yi was executed. The Taiwanese were upset over being pushed aside, robbed and otherwise abused. Chiang ruled the island dictatorially, while hoping to return to the mailand and somehow undo his previous failure. He died in 1975. A memorial was built for him almost as grand as that built for the dictator Franco of Spain. And Taiwan's international airport bears his name.
Like Spain, Taiwan eventually became democratic.
A unique few pages of nitty-gritty Taiwan history, written by Robert Elegant, is available at.