Early Dutch colonists had attempted but failed…
1624 CE
Early Dutch colonists had attempted but failed to control Macau and the Penghu islands.
VOC admiral Cornelis Reyersz had set sail in July 1622, for the island of Formosa (Taiwan) in search of a suitable new location to build a trading post, and in 1624 establishes a small fort named Orange on Tayouan.
The fort is then expanded and renamed Fort Zeelandia.
Unfortunately, the site chosen lacks adequate supplies of fresh water, which had to be shipped in from the mainland.
The settlement is initially designed as a base to attack their Spanish rivals and as a trading post between China and Batavia.
Later the post is to become the Dutch center of trade between China, Japan and Europe.
Large scale immigration from the Chinese mainland begins as the Dutch colonists begin to import workers from Fujian and Penghu (Pescadores) as laborers, many of whom settle.