Ume

The island of Taiwan as well as the Penghu islands were ceded to Japan by the Qing Dynasty following the end of the First Sino-Japanese War in 1895. This rule would continue until 1945, when Japan lost the Second World War and was forced to renounce all colonial possessions by the Allies.

'''...BUT what if Japan was allowed to keep Taiwan? '''

'''...what if the Kominka (Japanization) movement in Taiwan had begun 25 years earlier? '''

'''...how would effect the history of Taiwan, Japan, and the World? '''

These questions and more will be answered in this timeline, which follows an alternate timeline in which Japan had sufficiently integrated the Taiwanese population into Japanese culture that the Allies decided against handing over the island to the Republic of China.

Editors

 * WILDSTARSKAORI (creator and editor-in-chief)

Master Timeline

 * 1911: The Japanese government begins implementation of a new movement to assimilate the Taiwanese into Japanese culture. This movement was known as the Kominka movement.
 * 1919: Den Kenjiro is appointed as the eighth governor-general of Taiwan. He launches a series of reforms, now known as the Den Reforms, that brought the local Taiwanese and Japanese populations closer. He also democratized the colonial government, allowing local Han Taiwanese and Aboriginal Taiwanese to participate.
 * 1937: The newly appointed governor-general of Taiwan, Kobayashi Seizō, reverses many of Den's reforms to pursue a more aggressive form of Kominka. This new form involved the banning of all local non-Japanese fesitivies and suppression of local languages and culture. The moves sparked protests by the locals and many Japanese, but dissent was crushed brutally by the colonial government. This period would be known as the 'Dark Period' and would last until the Allied Occupation in 1945.
 * 1945: The Second World War concludes with Japan's unconditional surrender to the Allies and the signing of the Treaty of San Francisco, which states that Japan must relinquish all colonial claims and disband their military. American and Chinese forces begin an occupation of the island, beginning a new era on the island. General Douglas MacArthur, after seeing the significant integration of the local Taiwanese population into the Japanese population, advises the Allied leaders not to hand over Taiwan to the Chinese. This move would upset the Chinese, but the Chinese Civil War had resumed by then so there was nothing the Chinese could do.
 * 1947: The Treaty of San Francisco is amended to exclude the handover of Taiwan, further upsetting China. The United States, Netherlands, and the United Kingdom begin an occupation of the island. As a concession, the Chinese are allowed to keep Kinmen. The occupations begin to democratize Japanese society and began to restore Den Reforms that were popular with the island's population.
 * 1952: The Allied occupation of Japan ends. The Ryukyuan Islands and Taiwan are continued to be occupied until 1962.
 * 1957: The United Kingdom leaves its occupation zone, ceding control to the Netherlands. The island of Taiwan is now occupied by the United States to the north and central western Coast, and the Netherlands control the central mountains and the south.
 * 1962: The last major occupation forces leave the island, leaving behind over 50,000 foreign troops in the United States Forces Japan and the Royal Occupation Corps Japan.