Editing Treaty of Shimonoseki (section)

===Treaty and Taiwan===
{{See also|Republic of Formosa|Japanese invasion of Taiwan (1895)|Taiwan under Japanese rule}}
During the summit between Japanese and Qing representatives in March and April 1895, Prime Minister [[Itō Hirobumi]] and Foreign Minister [[Mutsu Munemitsu]] wanted to reduce the power of the Qing dynasty on not only the [[Joseon|Korean Peninsula]] but also the [[Taiwan under Qing rule|Taiwan islands]]. Moreover, Mutsu had already noticed its importance in order to expand Japanese military power towards South China and Southeast Asia. It was also the age of imperialism, so Japan wished to mimic what the Western nations were doing. Imperial Japan was seeking colonies and resources in the Korean Peninsula and mainland China to compete with the presence of Western powers at that time. This was the way the Japanese leadership chose to illustrate how fast Imperial Japan had advanced compared to the West since the 1867 [[Meiji Restoration]], and the extent it wanted to amend the [[unequal treaties]] that were held in the [[Far East]] by the Western powers.

At the peace conference between Imperial Japan and the Qing dynasty, [[Li Hongzhang]] and [[Li Jingfang]], the ambassadors at the negotiation desk of the Qing dynasty, originally did not plan to cede Taiwan because they also realized Taiwan's great location for trading with the West. Therefore, even though the Qing had lost wars against Britain and France in the 19th century, the Qing emperor was serious about keeping Taiwan under its rule, which began in 1683. On March 20, 1895, at Shunpanrō ({{lang|ja|春帆楼}}) in Shimonoseki in Japan, a one month long peace conference began.

At the first half of the conference, Ito and Li talked mainly about a cease-fire agreement, and during the second half of the conference, the contents of the peace treaty were discussed. Ito and Mutsu claimed that yielding the full sovereignty of Taiwan was an absolute condition and requested Li to hand over full sovereignty of the [[Penghu Islands]] and the eastern portion of the bay at the southern tip of the [[Liaodong Peninsula]]. Li Hongzhang refused on the grounds that Taiwan had never been a battlefield during the first Sino-Japanese War between 1894 and 1895. By the final stage of the conference, while Li Hongzhang agreed to the transfer of full sovereignty of the Penghu islands and the portion of Liaodong to Imperial Japan, he still refused to hand over Taiwan. As Taiwan had been a province since 1885, Li stated, "Taiwan is [[Taiwan Province (Qing)|already a province]], and therefore not to be given away ({{lang|zh-hant|臺灣已立一行省，不能送給他國}})."
 
However, Imperial Japan had the military advantage, and eventually Li gave Taiwan up. On April 17, 1895, the peace treaty between Imperial Japan and the Qing dynasty had been signed and was followed by the successful [[Japanese invasion of Taiwan (1895)|Japanese invasion of Taiwan]]. This had a huge and lasting impact on Taiwan, the turning over of the island to Imperial Japan marking the end of 200 years of [[Taiwan under Qing dynasty rule|Qing rule]] despite [[Anti-Japanese colonialism in Taiwan#Resistance to the Japanese invasion|local resistance in Taiwan against the annexation]], which was quashed swiftly by the Japanese. Therefore, [[Taiwan under Japanese rule|Taiwan was under Japanese rule]] from 1895 to 1945, until the [[End of World War II in Asia|end of World War II]] by the [[surrender of Japan]].