In 1868 China found herself within measurable distance of a war which might not have ended fortunately. The island of Taiwan, or Formosa, had always been a very troublesome appanage to China, and the Government seldom concerned itself with the district as long as there was no open rebellion. In 1868, however Japan had occasion to protest against the massacre of over fifty sailors from the Riukiu Islands. The Imperial Government maintained at first that the murdered islanders were China's own subjects, but the Japanese pushed matters to the extent of landing a punitive force, and the Chinese ultimately consented, through the good offices of Sir Thomas Wade, to pay the expenses of the expedition, while the claim of the Japanese to the Riukiu Islands was tacitly acknowledged.
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