Translater’s Note: I was surprised to learn that the Imperial Japanese Army had been attacking Taiwan since at least 1870 – landing troops that were tasked with attacking specific villages, towns, and other locations, a military action designed to reduce the ethnic Chinese population and destroy the Qing Dynasty infrastructure in preparation for a full Imperial Japanese military invasion. For 25 years the Imperial Japanese Army massacred and raped its way through traditional Chinese (often “Hakka”) villages – committing untold numbers of atrocities. After the formal annexation of Taiwan in 1895 – Imperial Japanese Officers would “test” their Sanurai-swords on the necks of Taiwanese people (an example is pictured below) – often recording these criminal events in photographs and newspaper articles! This horrific practice foreshadowed what the fascist behaviour of the Imperial Japanese Army would be after it invaded Mainland China during 1931. Even before this date, the Imperial Japanese Army had been occupying parts of North-East China (Manchuria) – after taking control of the Czarist Russian colony situated there (essentially a railroad) in 1904. ACW (17.9.2024)
Although Imperial Japan formally “annexed” the island of Taiwan in 1895 – it is recorded (in both Japanese and Chinese historical language texts) that Japanese troops routinely “raided” the island for at least 25-years prior to this date (around 1870). Before the Imperial Japanese Occupation, Japanese troops often carried-out bloody and horrific massacres – one after another – slaughtering countless people and destroying villages, raiding homes, and summarily executing thousands of innocent Taiwanese people without trial. This reality reflects the general attitude of Resistance the Chinese people of Taiwan possessed toward foreign subjugation.
According to information reported to Ito Hirobumi (伊藤博) during September 1895 by the Director of the Japan Civil Affairs Bureau – Mizuno Jun (水野遵) – Taiwan at that time (excluding the sparsely populated Eastern Region) possessed a population spread throughout the Western Region of more than 3 million people. Earlier, Liu Mingchun (刘铭传) [1836–1896] traditionally calculated that Taiwan’s population had been more than 3.2 million. Liu Mingchun was the Qing Governor of Taiwan between 1884-1891. After the Imperial Japanese policy of expulsion and killing of the Taiwanese, the population data by the end of 1896 stood at only 2.57 million when the Mizuno Jun Survey was completed.
That is, excluding the population growth rate between the Liu Mingchuan Period to 1895 (some 11 years), Taiwan’s population plummeted by 600,000 to 700,000 in less than a year – due to Japan’s policy of killing and expelling Taiwanese people! Between 1895-1897 the Imperial Japanese permitted ethnic Chinese people to leave Taiwan – but official figures record that only 4,456 Taiwanese people took this route of relocating to Mainland China. This process involved an official procedure of application – which was granted (or denied) by the Imperial Japanese Authorities on a case-by-case bases. Therefore, no matter how the numbers are calculated, from September 1895 to the end of 1896 (just over 1 year), the number of “unnatural” (or “massacred”) deaths of Taiwanese people suffered at the hands of the Imperial Japanese reached at least 500,000 – which is a credible figure.
Chinese Language Text:
依据1895年9月，日本民政局长水野遵呈报给伊藤博文的资料显示，当时的台湾不计入东部，光以西部地区就有300万人以上的人口。更早之前，刘铭传统计台湾人口就已有320余万人，但经过日本帝国对台湾的攘逐杀戮政策之后，1896年底的人口数据再经水野遵调查时，已经只剩257万人了；也就是不计入刘铭传时期到1895年的人口增加率，台湾人口在这一年多的时间里，由于日本对台的杀戮攘逐政策而锐减了60万至70万人。
这其中就算再把『两年缓冲期』中有本事陆续返回中国的移出人口列入计算，依据文献计载，至1897年5月8日期限届满，也只共有4456人申请离台，再怎么推估，单单从1895年9月至1896年底，当时的台湾『非自然(被屠杀)』减少的人口数达到50万，应是可信的数字。
更遑论日治前期25年，日本连续施以血腥手段恐怖屠杀，无计其数的屠村、抄家灭门，以及成千上万未经正式审判即就地处决的无辜台湾民众。
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 