query: Where was the Republic of Formosa?
passage: Republic of Formosa
The Republic of Formosa (Chinese:臺灣民主國; pinyin:Táiwān mínzhǔ guó; Pe̍h-ōe-jī:Tâi-oân Bîn-chú-kok; literally: 'Democratic State of Taiwan'), was a short-lived republic[1][2] that existed on the island of Taiwan in 1895 between the formal cession of Taiwan by the Qing Dynasty of China to the Empire of Japan by the Treaty of Shimonoseki and it being taken over by Japanese troops. The Republic was proclaimed on 23 May 1895 and extinguished on 21 October, when the Republican capital Tainan was taken over by the Japanese. Though sometimes claimed as the first Asian republic to have been proclaimed, it was predated by the Lanfang Republic in Borneo, established in 1777, as well as by the Republic of Ezo in Japan, established in 1869.
passage: Republic of Formosa
The Japanese have affronted China by annexing our territory of Formosa, and the supplications of us, the People of Formosa, at the portals of the Throne have been made in vain. We now learn that the Japanese slaves are about to arrive.