|aTaiwan on the eve of colonization -- A scramble for influence -- Pax Hollandica -- La Isla Hermosa: the rise of the spanish colony in northern Taiwan -- The fall of Spanish Taiwan -- The birth of co-colonization -- The challenges of a Chinese frontier -- "The only bees on Formosa that give honey" -- Lord and vassal: company rule over the aborigines -- The beginning of the end -- The fall of Dutch Taiwan -- Conclusion.