Taiwanese Scholar Rescues 150-Year-Old Russian Report on Mudan Incident, Revealing Third-Party View

Professor Yang Meng-che, a scholar of modern East Asian history at Fo Guang University, has successfully retrieved and published a 150-year-old official Russian investigation report concerning the 1874 Mudan Incident. This report, previously sealed in the Russian Navy Archives, offers a unique third-party viewpoint on the conflict.

Yang's quest began with a promise to a dying tribal cultural worker, Hua Cai, to complete unfinished work. Driven by this commitment and a historical photograph from Sakhalin Island during the Japanese occupation, Yang embarked on a solo journey to Siberia, eventually reaching Moscow and St. Petersburg, despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties between Taiwan and Russia.

In an environment of near-zero interaction between Taiwan and Russia, Yang leveraged his private collection of six original books on the Russo-Japanese War. This personal diplomacy allowed him to negotiate a "book-for-book" exchange with the director of the Russian Navy Archives, becoming the first Taiwanese scholar to conduct research there. After navigating strict review processes and limitations on copying, he successfully brought the report back to Taiwan.

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The Japanese ambition is not to kill the indigenous people, but to rule Taiwan in the future.

The core of the retrieved documents is a firsthand account by Russian officer V. A. Terent'ev, who infiltrated Taiwan disguised as a merchant in 1874. Terent'ev's report precisely recorded Japanese troop numbers and astutely observed that "the Japanese ambition is not to kill the indigenous people, but to rule Taiwan in the future." The report also criticized the lax attitude of Qing soldiers and noted that ordinary Han Chinese were friendly towards the Japanese forces, highlighting the isolation of the indigenous people during the defense.

Furthermore, Terent'ev issued a warning to the Russian Ministry of Defense, predicting that failure to remain vigilant would lead to significant future problems for Russia in the Far East. This prophecy was indeed borne out 30 years later during the Russo-Japanese War.

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If not prevented, it will become a major trouble for Russia in the Far East in the future.