Xincheng Incident

The Xincheng Incident (Chinese: 新城事件) is an event that took place in 1896 in the city of Xincheng, Karenkō Prefecture, Taiwan, Empire of Japan. The chief of the Truku tribe, Holok Naowi, led 20 aboriginal warriors against the Japanese forces, killing 13 Japanese soldiers.[2]

Xincheng Incident
Date November 1896 Location Karen District, Karenkō Prefecture, Japanese Taiwan (modern-day Xincheng, Hualien County, Taiwan) Result Truku's victory
Belligerents
Truku Tribe	Empire of Japan
Commanders and leaders
Holok Naowi	Shaojun Jiecheng Heng
Strength
20	21
Casualties and losses
Unknown	13[1]

Background and causes

Since the Japanese empire took over Taiwan in 1895, there had been a growing tension between the local aboriginal tribes trying to protect their villages and hunting grounds and the Japanese forces which aimed to take over control of aboriginals lands in order to exploit natural resources.

The Xincheng event was mostly caused by sexual abuses of aboriginal women by Japanese soldiers.[1]

Consequences

After the incident the Japanese forces launched a series of retaliatory attacks on the Truku, taking advantage of their terrain knowledge manage to resist hiding in the mountain villages. The Japanese were forced to withdraw and offered amnesty to the aboriginal who surrendered.

After different conflicts the Truku War ended in 1914 with the victory of the Japanese over the Truku people.[2]

See also

• History of Taiwan
• Taiwan under Japanese rule
• Taiwanese indigenous peoples

References