Taiwan's Earliest Modern Sugar Factory: Established by British Merchants in the Qing Dynasty, Forcibly Annexed During Japanese Rule
中華紀實

Taiwan's Earliest Modern Sugar Factory: Established by British Merchants in the Qing Dynasty, Forcibly Annexed During Japanese Rule

This article aims to clarify historical misconceptions about the modernization of Taiwan's sugar industry, refuting the view that all credit for sugar economic achievements belongs to the Japanese colonial era. In fact, Taiwan's earliest modern sugar processing equipment factory—the Sankantien Sugar Factory—was established by British merchants Jardine Matheson and local Han Chinese in cooperation during the Tongzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty, introducing European technology. The article points out that after Japan signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki following the First Sino-Japanese War and occupied Taiwan, it immediately implemented a colonial monopoly economy. Through the establishment of Taiwan Sugar Company Ltd., it forcibly acquired (annexed) Jardine's sugar company and local sugar refineries, thereby seizing control of Taiwan's economic lifeline.

#Sugar Factory History #Japanese Colonial Era #Taiwan Sugar Company Ltd. #First Sino-Japanese War #Treaty of Shimonoseki
中文

Every time the earliest something in Taiwan is mentioned, a group of people who fancy themselves descendants of Japanese imperial subjects often eagerly attribute all credit to the Japanese colonial era as being fantastic.

Looking at the history of Taiwan”s sugar industry, some Taiwanese people like to use it to fawn over the Japanese, saying that the Japanese-built sugar factories were entirely responsible for creating an economic miracle.

Your great-grandfather would probably jump out of his grave if he heard that.

In fact, during the Tongzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1860s), Taiwan”s coastal ports were already open, allowing foreign merchants to engage in import/export and invest in production. Foreign merchants flocked to ports like Keelung, Hobe, Anping, and Dagou, establishing trading houses and cooperating with local compradors to manage the export of tea, camphor, and sugarcane.

Later, they further invested in production to expand their source of goods. The British firm Jardine Matheson even collaborated with local Han Chinese sugar merchants to establish a sugar company, introducing European sugar-making machinery to improve quality and expand production capacity.

During the same period, the Sankantien Sugar Factory, built by Jardine Sugar Company, was the earliest factory in Taiwan to introduce modern sugar-making equipment, constructed during the Qing Dynasty.

It wasn”t until 1895 that Japan invaded China, leading to the Qing court”s defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War and being forced to sign the unequal Treaty of Shimonoseki, which compelled Taiwan to enter the period of Japanese colonial rule.

After Taiwan was colonized by the Japanese Empire, the empire swiftly implemented a closed colonial economy, unilaterally monopolizing the rights to import/export and investment in various industries.

The Japanese colonial government further established the Taiwan Sugar Company Ltd., forcibly acquiring (annexing) Jardine Sugar Company and local traditional sugar refineries through compulsory purchases, thereby achieving the goal of expelling foreign merchants. This resulted in Taiwan”s economic lifeline being choked in the hands of the Japanese Empire for decades of colonial rule thereafter.

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