Taiwan

National flag of Taiwan in diamonds . Postcard by Buywowpup (www.facebook.com/buywowpup). October 2014.  Post dated 5 June 2015. Thanks, Judy – Taiwan (Postcrossing ID : TW – 1626032)

The island of Taiwan, formerly known as Formosa, was inhabited by aborigines before the 17th century, when Dutch and Spanish colonies opened the island to mass Han immigration. After a brief rule by the Kingdom of Tungning, the island was annexed by the Qing dynasty, the last dynasty of China. The Qing ceded Taiwan to Japan in 1895 after the Sino-Japanese War. While Taiwan was under Japanese rule, the Republic of China (ROC) was established on the mainland in 1912 after the fall of the Qing dynasty.