 On returning from his unsuccessful mission to Japan , Nuyts took up his position as the third Governor of Formosa , with his residence in Fort Zeelandia in Tayouan ( modern @-@ day Anping ) . One of his early aims was to force an opening for the Dutch to trade in China — something which had eluded them since they arrived in East Asia in the early 17th century . To further this goal , he took the Chinese trade negotiator Zheng <unk> hostage and refused to release him until he agreed to give the Dutch trading privileges . More than thirty years later it was to be Zheng 's son Koxinga who ended the reign of the Dutch on Formosa . 
