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Thus it was that nearly two hundred years later, in the 1870s, while there were some very long-established official, mercantile, and agricultural communities & lineages on the island, there were still significant portions of the island where the aboriginal peoples were dominant and where Qing officials had no effective power or control. This set of circumstances would have significant foreign relations impacts as the region moved into the late 19th century.

Thus it was that nearly two hundred years later, in the 1870s, while there were some very long-established official, mercantile, and agricultural communities & lineages on the island, there were still significant portions of the island where the aboriginal peoples were dominant and where Qing officials had no effective power or control. This set of circumstances would have significant foreign relations impacts as the region moved into the late 19th century.

In [[1871]], a number of [[Miyako Islands|Miyako Islanders]] became shipwrecked on Taiwan, where they encountered and were [[Taiwan Incident of 1871|killed]] by a group of Taiwanese aborigines. The [[Meiji government]] responded with [[Taiwan Expedition of 1874|a punitive military expedition]], led by [[Saigo Tsugumichi|Saigô Tsugumichi]] and launched to punish the aborigines for the murder of Japanese subjects. The fighting lasted less than two months. This invasion spurred considerable tensions, however, between Japan and China, with China rejecting Japan's claims that the Miyako Islanders were Japanese subjects, and asserting its own claims over Taiwan while denying responsibility for the aborigines' actions. Woodblock prints widely circulated in Japan depicting and describing the events of the expedition are considered the first ''[[shinbun nishiki-e]]'', or "news prints," informing the public of official contemporary events in a relatively timely and accurate manner. A treaty was signed in October of that year in which China admitted less than total sovereign control over certain areas of southern Taiwan (i.e. areas dominated by aboriginal groups), recognized the [[Ryukyuan people]]s as Japanese subjects, and agreed to pay an indemnity of 500,000 ''[[tael]]s'' to Japan. The tensions still simmered, however, and very nearly came to all-out war before the decade was up, in order to decide more definitively Chinese and Japanese claims to both Taiwan and the [[Ryukyu Islands|Ryûkyû Islands]]. The issue was complicated by advice from Westerners, [[Charles DeLong]] and [[Charles LeGendre]], who suggested to the Japanese that since the Chinese did not exert effective (''de facto'') control over those sections of Taiwan dominated by the aborigines, that territory was essentially ''terra nullius'', and if Japan were to occupy the territory, under Western/modern international law, it could be rightfully Japan's.  

In [[1871]], a number of [[Miyako Islands|Miyako Islanders]] became shipwrecked on Taiwan, where they encountered and were [[Taiwan Incident of 1871|killed]] by a group of Taiwanese aborigines. The [[Meiji government]] responded with [[Taiwan Expedition of 1874|a punitive military expedition]], led by [[Saigo Tsugumichi|Saigô Tsugumichi]] and launched to punish the aborigines for the murder of Japanese subjects. The fighting lasted less than two months. This invasion spurred considerable tensions, however, between Japan and China, with China rejecting Japan's claims that the Miyako Islanders were Japanese subjects, and asserting its own claims over Taiwan while denying responsibility for the aborigines' actions. Woodblock prints widely circulated in Japan depicting and describing the events of the expedition are considered the first ''[[shinbun nishiki-e]]'', or "news prints," informing the public of official contemporary events in a relatively timely and accurate manner. A treaty was signed in October of that year in which China admitted less than total sovereign control over certain areas of southern Taiwan (i.e. areas dominated by aboriginal groups), recognized the [[Ryukyuan people]]s as Japanese subjects, and agreed to pay an indemnity of 500,000 ''[[tael]]s'' to Japan. The tensions still simmered, however, and very nearly came to all-out war before the decade was up, in order to decide more definitively Chinese and Japanese claims to both Taiwan and the [[Ryukyu Islands|Ryûkyû Islands]]. The issue was complicated by advice from Westerners, [[Charles DeLong]] and [[Charles LeGendre]], who suggested to the Japanese that since the Chinese did not exert effective (''de facto'') control over those sections of Taiwan dominated by the aborigines, that territory was essentially ''terra nullius'', and if Japan were to occupy the territory, it could be rightfully Japan's, under Western/modern international law.  

In the end, in [[1879]], Japan unilaterally annexed the Ryukyus over Beijing's objections, but negotiations between the two sides, facilitated in part by [[Ulysses S. Grant]], prevented the outbreak of further violent conflict.<ref>Uemura Hideaki, "The Colonial Annexation of Okinawa and the Logic of International Law: The Formation of an 'Indigenous People' in East Asia," ''Japanese Studies'' 23:2 (2003), 107-124.</ref>

In the end, in [[1879]], Japan unilaterally annexed the Ryukyus over Beijing's objections, but negotiations between the two sides, facilitated in part by [[Ulysses S. Grant]], prevented the outbreak of further violent conflict.<ref>Uemura Hideaki, "The Colonial Annexation of Okinawa and the Logic of International Law: The Formation of an 'Indigenous People' in East Asia," ''Japanese Studies'' 23:2 (2003), 107-124.</ref>