Transforming Empire in Japan and East Asia - Robert Eskildsen Gebunden

This book examines the history of a military expedition the Japanese government sent to southern Taiwan in 1874 in the context of Japan's subordination to Western powers in the unequal treaty system in East Asia. It argues that events on the ground in Taiwan show the Japanese government intended to establish colonies in southern and eastern Taiwan and justified its colonial intent based on the argument that a state must spread civilization and political authority to territories where it claimed sovereignty thereby challenging Chinese authority in East Asia and consolidating its power domest ically. The book considers the history of the Taiwan Expedition in the light of how Japanese imperialism began: it emerged as part of the process of consolidating government power after the Meiji Restoration it derived from Western imperialism it developed in a dynamic relationship with Western imperialism and it increased Japan's leverage in its competition for influence in East Asia.