Given the strategic and commercial value of Taiwan , there were British suggestions in 1840 and 1841 to seize the island . In September 1841 , during the First Opium War , the British transport ship '' Nerbudda '' became shipwrecked near Keelung Harbour due to a typhoon . The brig '' Ann '' also became shipwrecked in March 1842 . Most of the crew were Indian lascars . Survivors from both ships were transferred by authorities to the capital Tainan . The Taiwan Qing commanders , Ta-hung-ah and Yao Ying , filed a disingenuous report to the emperor , claiming to have defended against an attack from the Keelung fort . In October 1841 , HMS '' Nimrod '' sailed to Keelung to search for the '' Nerbudda '' survivors , but after Captain Joseph Pearse found out that they were sent south for imprisonment , he ordered the bombardment of the harbour and destroyed 27 sets of cannon before returning to Hong Kong . Most of the survivors — over 130 from the '' Nerbudda '' and 54 from the '' Ann '' — were executed in Tainan in August 1842
executed in Tainan
Nerbudda incident
Taiwan under Qing rule