Republic of Formosa
The Republic of Formosa (), was a short-lived republic that existed on the island of Taiwan in 1895 between the formal cession of Taiwan by the Qing Dynasty of China to the Empire of Japan by the Treaty of Shimonoseki and it being taken over by Japanese troops. The Republic was proclaimed on 23 May 1895 and extinguished on 21 October, when the Republican capital Tainan was taken over by the Japanese. Though sometimes claimed as the first Asian republic to have been proclaimed, it was predated by the Lanfang Republic in Borneo, established in 1777, as well as by the Republic of Ezo in Japan, established in 1869.
Tang Jingsong
Following China's defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War, Taiwan was ceded to Japan in April 1895 under the Treaty of Shimonoseki. A number of Chinese officials in Taiwan decided to resist the Japanese, and proclaimed Taiwan an independent Republic of Formosa. Tang was inaugurated as the republic's president on May 25, 1895. The republic lasted no longer than the time it took the Japanese to invade and occupy Taiwan. The Japanese invaded northern Taiwan on May 29, 1895 and defeated Chinese forces at Keelung on 3 June.