Policy battles between reformists and conservatives raged continually at the imperial court in Beijing during the latter years of the Qing dynasty, and it was actually to Taiwan's advantage to be on the nation's periphery. Progressive administrators in Taiwan were able to push through plans for modernization without the stiff opposition that they would have encountered elsewhere in China.
清末推動改革的維新之士與保守勢力在朝廷僵持不下，新政一波三折，邊陲之地的台灣反對聲浪小，實業計畫遂在寶島首先推展。劉銘傳上奏「擬興修台灣鐵路摺」中，鐵路大業貫穿南、北，從基隆到台南，一視同仁。