Dutch Formosa (Cromwell the Great)

Dutch Formosa (Nederlands-Formosa), known historically as Formosa, is colony under of the Dutch rule from 1624-1662, 1668 and to date. In the context of the Age of Discovery, the Dutch East India Company established its presence on Taiwan to trade with the Ming Empire and Japan, and also to interdict Portuguese and Spanish trade and colonial activities in East Asia.

Considered the Parel van China (The Pearl oF China) due to its lucrative economy and strategic sea connection to China, Japan and the East Indies (Batavia).

Government
The Governor of Formosa (Gouverneur van Formosa), appointed by the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies in Batavia, is the head of government. The Governor is empowered to legislate, collect taxes, wage war and declare peace on behalf of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and therefore by extension the Dutch state.

Pressured by the colonists a Council of Formosa (Raad van Formosa) met in 1702 representing the Dutch population of the island. It would be a long time before the Chinese of the island, or the native population had any representation

Aboriginals are allowed to continue their lives relatively freely, but are required to make annual tribute to the Dutch in in addition to a number of taxes, including export duties, sales tax and hunting taxes. They also laid down laws governing every aspect of life, including the organisation of markets, production of alcohol, construction of houses and observation of Sunday services.

The process of converting indigenous peoples to Christianity also helped to increase the literacy of aboriginals, as clergymen sent by the Dutch East India Company were involved in translating the Bible from Dutch into Romanized versions of indigenous languages. The clergy were also involved in setting up schools, as well as serving as interpreters and tax collectors, playing a key role in the administration of Taiwan by the Dutch. This was largely due to the fact that they were heavily involved with the aboriginal tribes, and understood their cultures and the various dialects.

Economy
The Fort Zeelandia factory is the fourth-most profitable factory in the whole of the Dutch East Indies (after the post at Batavia, Malacca and Hirado/Dejima). Benefitting from triangular trade between themselves, the Chinese and the Japanese, plus exploiting the natural resources of Formosa, the Dutch were able to turn the malarial sub-tropical bay into a lucrative asset. A cash economy was introduced (using the Spanish real, which was used by the VOC) and the period also saw the first serious attempts in the island's history to develop it economically.

Economic development in Taiwan, including both large-scale hunting of deer and the cultivation of rice and sugarcane by imported Han labour from the Ming Empire. The Dutch convert the majority the aboriginal inhabitants to Christianity, and suppress aspects of traditional culture that they found disagreeable, such as headhunting, forced abortion and public nakedness.

The Dutch initially were not universally welcomed and uprisings by both aborigines and recent Han arrivals were quelled by the Dutch military on more than one occasion. The colonial period was almost brought to an end by the 1661 invasion of Koxinga's army.