Portuguese explorers appropriately named the island Formosa which means Beautiful Island. It is located 120 km off the south east coast of China and has a population of approximately 23 million 98% of whom are Han Chinese and 2% Taiwanese aboriginal. Taiwan is 400 km long and 150 km wide and resembles a sweet potato hence locals sometimes refer to themselves as "the children of the sweet potato". Upon discover in 1544 the Portuguese made no attempt to settle and there was no colonisation until the Dutch utilised it as a base for the import of workers from narby Fujian and Penghu provinces in China.
The Dutch were defeated by Chinese troops in 1662 and changed hands several times due to its proximity to the mainland and the ease with which warlords could launch attacks on opposing fiefdoms along the China coast.
The Japanese had long set their sights on occupying Taiwan for use as a strategic military base and after many unsuccessful attempts and as a result of the first Sino-Japanese war the island was ceded to the Japanese in 1895,
The industrial might of this nation - one of the "Asian Tigers" resulted in the Japanese industrialisation. Taiwan and its people were used extensively during world war II in the expansion of Japanese imperialism through South East Asia.