First Sino-Japanese War
The accumulation of many events led to the First Sino-Japanese War. Japan’s economy relied on exports from other countries for goods. This island was small and not rich in resources, so Japan began to expand its empire. One of its targets was Korea because it would provide Japan with a territory in mainland Asia. In 1895, a dispute over the occupation of Korea between China and Japan ensued. Even though China had a greater military, Japan had better technology, which led to its humiliating defeat. In the Treaty of Shimonoseki, China gave a territory near Korea, Taiwan, and leased Liaodong Peninsula to Japan. However, Taiwan became the only worthy territory after Western powers forced Japan to give up Liaodong Peninsula and that the area near Korea mostly consisted of swamps (Guo, “Japan’s Era in Taiwan: Effects of Assimilation”).