The Qing court responded by annexing Taiwan as part of Fujian Province and dividing the island into three counties. Shi Lang was a native of Quanzhou, in Fujian Province. While emphasizing Taiwan's strategic importance, he also issued three writs prohibiting immigration to Taiwan. The third of these writs states: "The Province of Guangdong has for so long been a haven for pirates that this lawlessness has become a way of life.
施琅是福建晉江人，他一面陳述台灣的重要，卻又提出三條渡台禁令，除要求渡台者須先經官方批准，禁令第三條特別指陳：「粵地屢為海盜淵藪，以積習未脫，禁其民渡台。」