Following the signing of the
Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895 between the
Empire of Japan and
Qing Empire of China, Taiwan was ceded to Japan in perpetuity, along with the
Penghu Islands. The Japanese rule saw Taiwan take large strides towards modernization, as they oversaw improvements to the island's infrastructure, economy, and health and education systems. Despite this, much of the population still suffered hardships, and there were regular partisan disturbances against Japanese installations. These guerrilla raids often resulted in Japanese reprisals which tended to be more brutal than the initial attack, such as the 1896 ‘
Yun-lin massacre', which resulted in 6,000 Taiwanese deaths. Although the situation improved under
Goto Shinpei, these disturbances still continued under
Sakuma Samata, who succeeded Goto in 1905. As part of the push for modernisation under Japanese rule, Beipu prospered due to its nearby coal mines. The town of Beipu was predominantly made up of members of the Hakka subgroup of
Han Chinese, while people of the Saisiyat indigenous ethnic group also lived in the area. As
Taiwanese aborigines, rather than
Han Chinese, these groups were viewed as barbarians and were particularly likely to face oppression from Japanese rule, especially under Sakuma Samata's term as governor-general. ==Incident ==