Colonial Conundrums: Dutch Policies and Indigenous Impact

Today, the small island roughly 13 kilometers off the coast of Pingtung County is called Xiaoliuqiu 琉球嶼. Some 400 years ago, however, many called it Lamay Island.

Shipwrecks in the seas around Formosa were common, and survivors who made it ashore often found the native peoples tolerated no incursions. After a few such incidents involving the killing of people from Dutch ships by Lamay Islanders, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) HQ in Batavia (Jakarta) gave the Dutch colonists in Taiwan an order: Completely depopulate Lamay Island.

The Dutch in Taiwan - not without reservations - followed this order, and committed the worst atrocity against the indigenous people during the Dutch colonial period in Formosa. 

Note: This episode was originally published on 22 March, 2022