They soon sent out an expeditionary force to Taiwan, making representations to the Qing court with the excuse that the Chinese had done nothing about the incident. After the Japanese landed the "barbarian" villages surrendered one after the other. The Japanese troops set up camp nearby and planned on a long stay.
日本向來以琉球的宗主國自居，而且垂涎台灣已久，不久以向清廷交涉未果為理由，出兵台灣，蕃社相繼投降，日軍即在附近紮營，打算屯田久駐。