If you really want to find the roots of Soviet interest in Taiwan, in fact several Russians from the military or government passed through Taiwan in the 19th century to investigate the original inhabitants and made records of what they saw and heard on their travels.
第一本曹族詞典若真要細數蘇聯對台灣的興趣，其實早在十九世紀就有幾位具軍官身分的俄國人，藉航行之便來台灣做過山地同胞調查，並將所見所聞寫成遊記。