two days to break Qing’s defense. On the first day of December, 1894, the Japanese army occupied the strategic city of Haicheng. Qing’s army of 60,000 men then attacked this city. The battle lasted until February, 1895, when Japan’s reinforcements arrived and helped to secure the city.
Japan’s next target was Weihai, another key naval port belonging to Qing. 20,000 Japanese soldiers arrived in Weihai, which was protected by eight batteries with more than one hundred powerful Western cannons. Weihai was the headquarters of Qing’s navy. After the Yellow Sea Battle, the rest of the Northern Fleet, which included seven battleships, six gunboats, 13 torpedo boats and two training vessels, lay at anchor in Weihai. Li Hongzhang did not allow any ships to leave this naval port, hoping that his fleet would avoid more losses. However, he repeated the same mistake as in Lüshun.
After several days, the Japanese destroyed the batteries and killed more than 1,000 defenders. The Japanese army then blocked all exit points and turned all the Chinese warships into sitting ducks. In spite of resisting fiercely, the entire Northern Army fleet was wiped out. Some foreign employees and Qing’s naval officers orchestrated a mutiny, forcing Ding Ruchang, the highest commander in the Qing navy, to surrender to the Japanese. Ding ordered them to desist; however, they would not listen. Finally, Ding and other senior officers chose to commit suicide rather than surrender. Japan seized the remaining Chinese warships and a large quantity of equipment in the naval base. The Northern Fleet, the symbol of China’s three-decade SSM, was erased from history. Disappointed at Li’s military inability, Qing’s imperial court placed its hopes in the Hunan Army, which played a pivotal role in putting down the Taiping Rebellion. However, the Hunan Army did not have success. The leader, the Governor General of both Jiangnan and Jiangxi, was not able to respond properly. The Japanese troops soon captured western Liaoning and the advancing army posed a great threat to Beijing.
Emperor Guangxu made concessions for peace; the conservatives, such as Cixi, did too. However, after Japan’s capture of Lüshun, the West started to worry that Japan could harm its own interests. Britain warned Japan that if they attacked Beijing and Qing collapsed, Japan would gain nothing. The United States warned Japan that if the war was continued, they would try to end it at the expense of Japan’s stability and prosperity. At this stage, Japan’s troops were almost exhausted. Ito Hirobumi, who was then heading the Japanese government, concluded that toppling Qing would lead to the Western powers’ intervention. Japan forced Qing to sign a peace treaty, which was to its own benefit. Japan however, refused to receive the Chinese delegation headed by several senior ministers, and said that only Li Hongzhang or Yixin (the leading prince) was qualified to negotiate. Thus, Li was sent to Japan.
The Treaty of Shimonoseki and the Cession of Taiwan
As part of the negotiations, Japan demanded that China cede several pieces of territory to Japan. China should also recognize Korea’s dependence on Japan and pay war reparations. Li Hongzhang was given the right to decide whether to agree to these terms.53 The Emperor and high ministers discussed giving up land, though they did not agree.54 They sent word to Qing’s de facto paramount leader, Cixi; however, they received no reply. Li was left to decide by himself.55 In March, 1895, the Chinese and Japanese delegates met in Shimonoseki. The Japanese said that their conditions included, 1) Japan’s occupation of Dagu, Tianjin, and Shanhaiguan; 2) Japan’s management of the railroad connecting Tianjin and Shanhaiguan; and 3) China’s commitment to pay all war expenses during the truce. Li argued that the Japanese were too greedy and decided not to go through with the negotiations. Unexpectedly, a ronin (i.e., an impoverished Japanese samurai) attempted to assassinate Li, which resulted in him being seriously wounded. The global media was in an uproar. Worrying about foreign powers intervening, the Japanese government approved a 21-day truce. However, the truce was not applicable to Taiwan and Penghu 澎 湖. In the beginning of April, Japan told Li, who was still injured, that peace was based on the fulfillment of China’s recognition of Japan’s full control of Korea; the cession of Taiwan, Penghu, and Liaodong Peninsula to Japan; and China’s payment of reparations of 200,000,000 taels of silver to Japan. Li wrote a long letter, attempting to persuade Japan to change its demands. However, he was unsuccessful and the Japanese repeatedly threatened to attack Beijing. On April 10, Japan issued an ultimatum to Li, demanding an answer to its demands. Li sent a telegram to Emperor Guangxu, telling him that he could not do anything about the situation. Seven days later, Li signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki giving Japan what it desired, land, money,56 and various privileges in China.
Japan had long since decided to take Taiwan from China. The Prime Minister, Ito Hirobumi, wanted Japan to occupy Taiwan by force and then compel China to cede it to Japan. He even prepared a detailed program whereby Japan would capture Weihai and destroy Qing’s Northern Fleet, while sending troops to Taiwan.57 The Japanese media went crazy, wanting China to permanently cede Taiwan to Japan. Fuzuzawa Yukichi, the father of Japan’s modern education system, said that Japan should annex the whole of northeast China and turn Lüshun into east Asia’s Gibraltar. They should make Dalian into China’s northern Hong Kong, occupy Shandong and Taiwan, and demand billions of silver dollars in compensation.58 Before the peace talks, Japan had already decided to seize Taiwan. During negotiations, Ito Hirobumi kept quiet about the Japanese troops advancing on Taiwan. Li Hongzhang however, said that Taiwanese residents would never bow to the Japanese invaders.59 The Japanese Prime Minister responded by saying that his government and, in particular, his army would be able to handle the situation.60
By coercing China into signing the Treaty of Shimonoseki, Japan inflicted much humiliation on China. Chinese society was taken aback and many called for Li Hongzhang, who signed this treaty, to be executed. Li returned to Tianjin, saying his life had been ruined.61 Emperor Guangxu was close to approving the treaty and a large number of members of the royal house, high governors, and imperial officials wrote memoranda to the throne in an attempt to stop him.62 Five imperial officials, all of whom were from Taiwan, issued a joint statement, expressing their strongest condemnation of the treaty, saying that Taiwanese residents would rather die rather than submit to the Japanese.63 They became known as the Five Righteous Men of Taiwan.64 Chinese media, such as Shanghai News (Shun Pao申报), also published a series of editorials denouncing the treaty. Kang Youwei 康有为 (1858–1927), who was later the architect of the 1898 Hundred Days’ Reform, mobilized 1,300 Examination candidates to protest against the treaty, and also recommended that Qing stop ceding territory, relocate its capital, and fight to the last.
Qiu Fengjia 丘逢甲 asked Tang Jingsong 唐景崧, then Qing’s Taiwan governor, to tell the throne, on behalf of Taiwan’s residents, that they would fight the Japanese invaders to the end. Qiu and others sincerely hoped that Tang would stay in Taiwan and lead the resistance to Japan. The Treaty of Shimonoseki came into effect on May 8, 1895. Taiwan decided to save itself by founding a government that was independent of the rising colonial Japanese empire; at same time, they remained loyal to Qing.65 17 days later, the People’s Republic of Taiwan (台湾民主国, PRT) was founded and called Yongqing 永清 (literally, perpetually loyal to Qing). Tang was chosen as the president; Liu Yongfu, the war hero of the Sino-French War, was the commander-in-chief; and Qiu was the leader of the militias.
