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===Japanese Colony (1895-1945)===
===Japanese Colony (1895-1945)===
Following Japanese victory in the Sino-Japanese War in 1895, Taiwan became Japanese territory. Residents were allowed a two-year period during which they were free to relocate to mainland China. Very few did so, with the vast majority remaining in Taiwan and officially becoming Japanese subjects. This fact has been used to support arguments that residents of Taiwan felt only weak loyalty to the Chinese state, and/or weak associations with Chinese identity. However, it is likely that more practical matters, such as the expense and difficulty of moving to the mainland, were significant factors for many individuals. When Taiwan reverted to Chinese sovereignty in 1945, the vast majority of these Japanese subjects applied to regain Chinese citizenship, signalling perhaps that they possessed strong ties to China all along, or simply that they had strong ties to Taiwan and were determined to stay regardless of which distant government controlled the territory.<ref name=danshao>Dan Shao, "Bloodline & Borderline: Nationality Law and Sovereignty: Contestation over Taiwan 1894-1980," talk given at Shape Shifters: Journeys Across Terrains of Race and Identity conference, University of California, Santa Barbara, 18 March 2016.</ref>
The colonization of Taiwan has been described by historian [[Mark Peattie]] as "an imperial accessory, a laboratory where the 'new boy' among the colonial powers could show off his modernizing skills, not the heart of Japan's strategic concerns."<ref>Peattie, 16.</ref> Those concerns lay chiefly in Korea.
The colonization of Taiwan has been described by historian [[Mark Peattie]] as "an imperial accessory, a laboratory where the 'new boy' among the colonial powers could show off his modernizing skills, not the heart of Japan's strategic concerns."<ref>Peattie, 16.</ref> Those concerns lay chiefly in Korea.
