Up to the time that they removed the Zheng clan from power in Taiwan, some members of the Qing court held that they should just let the island be, describing it as "an undeveloped place with little tax revenue that is separated from the mainland by a strait and hard to administer." They didn't even think it should be included in maps of China proper.
甚至在消滅鄭氏政權時，清朝內部對台灣還有「棄留」之論，有人認為「未開發而稅收少，隔海峽而難統治」，不主張納入大清版圖。