For general histories of Formosa see James W. Davidson, The Island of Formosa, Past and Present (New York, 1903), 710 pp., and Fr. Jose Maria Alvarez: Formosa: Geografica e Historicamente Considerada (Lisbon, 1930), 2 vols., 568 pp. & 530 pp.
On the Dutch colony in 17th-century Formosa, see William Campbell, ed., An Account of Missionary Success in the Island of Formosa, published in London in 1650, and now Reprinted with Copius Appendices (London, 1889), 2 vols., 330 pp. & 337 pp.
For Commodore Perry's "Grand Design" see F. L. Hawkes, ed., Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan, in the Years 1852, 1853, and 1854, under the Command of Commodore Matthew C. Perry, United States Navy (Washington, 1856), Vol. II, pp. 178-180.
On the 19th-century confrontation of the maritime nations with China concerning Formosa, W. A. Pickering tells the British story: Pioneering in Formosa: Recollections of Adventures Among Mandarins, Wreckers and Head-hunting Savages (London, 1898), 283 pp. Edward H. House tells of The Japanese Expedition to Formosa in 1874 (Tokyo, 1.875), 231 pp. John Dodd published The Journal of a Blockaded Resident in North Formosa During the Franco-Chinese War,1884-5 (Hong Kong, 1888), 229 pp., outlining the French position and local reaction.
An elaborate record of American diplomatic and consular effort to compel China to establish orderly government on Formosa is preserved in the microcopied records of the Department of State, preserved in the National Archives, which include diplomatic and consular correspondence of American representatives in Amoy, Foochow, Shanghai and Peking with Washington in the 19th century.
See especially General C. W. LeGendre: Is Aboriginal Formosa a Part of the Chinese Empire? (Shanghai, 1874), 20 pp., 8 maps, and his report to Washington, printed at Macao in 1871 (141 pp.) entitled How to Deal with China: a Letter to DeB. Rand Kheim, esq., Agent of the United States.
For an elaborate summary of conditions within Formosa just before World War II, see the U. S. Navy's Civil Affairs Handbook Series, 1944-45 11 volumes), printed at Washington for the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations.