Fever abounded and the island became notorious among foreigners for unhealthiness. Robert Swinhoe, the first British Consul, wrote that Taiwan " had reduced him to a wreck".

But fields were opened up and tilled, rice and sugar cane were planted, tea cultivated and Chinese society established. In 1886 Taiwan became a province of China with its own governor. Liu Ming- Chuan was an intelligent, liberal minded and progressive person and amongst other things built a section of railway near Tai-pei.

In 1895 , by the Treaty of Shimonoseki, ending a war between Japan and China, Taiwan was ceded in perpetuity to Japan. Over the next 50 years Japan colonised and developed the island with ruthless efficiency. The people remained culturally Chinese but Japanese became the national language and Japanese ethos was pressed home through a universal system of primary and secondary education, influencing the whole of society.

As we all know Japan surrendered in September 1945 and Chiang Kai Shek's troops entered the scene a few days later.

This concludes a brief view of Taiwan's history.

The Chinese Era

By the Treaties of Nanking, 1842 and Tientsin, 1858 the Chinese government opened to western trade a number of ports along the coast of China. Two ports in Taiwan were included, Tamsui in the north and Takao (now Kao - hsiung) in the south. The Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs was set up, staffed by British officers, to levy customs duties in all these treaty ports and hand them over to the Chinese Government. The customs service appointed their own doctors to look after their personnel and the small resident European communities engaged in trade.

In 1866 a very intelligent and active Scottish doctor, an Aberdeen graduate, Patrick Manson, aged 21, was appointed to Takao as community doctor. There were 16 European merchants in the port. His job was to inspect all the ships entering and leaving the port, examine and treat the crews and care for the health of the community.