新港有個臺灣王－－十七世紀東亞國家主權紛爭小插曲

King of Taiwan in Sincan: Disputes over Taiwan's Sovereign Rights in 17th Century

本文透過歷史故事，分析17世紀幾個發生在臺灣有關主權紛爭的插曲。指出荷蘭東印度公司初來臺灣時並無積極主權宣示動作，1628年荷日外交糾紛「濱田彌兵衛事件」後，方才留意宣示擁有臺灣主權之事實。而當時出現所謂「臺灣王」之名銜，僅是荷日交涉中的外交辭令，不是真有全島性的原住民之王，不過也不應忽略傳統原住民社會就存在有頭目、長老之組織。文中接著探討荷蘭時代鄭氏父子先後派人來臺所收之稅，是明中葉以來的東西洋餉。也因此，鄭成功能宣稱說臺灣屬於鄭家，或屬於鄭家所效忠的南明小帝國。作者最後指出，住民在當時的國家主權紛爭中，絕非無聲配角或傀儡。原住民有其選擇同盟的主動性。而經歷荷蘭人三十餘年的統治，仍保有相當程度文化或政治上之自主。國性爺鄭成功入侵臺灣時，西拉雅人選擇中立，但其化原住民卻壯烈反抗。

This paper first analyzes disputes over Taiwan's sovereign rights in the seventeenth century. It then points out that during its early reign. The Dutch East India Company(VOC)did not make any public claim of its sovereignty of Taiwan. It was not until the Hamada Yahyoue Incident, a trade dispute between the Dutch and Japanese, did VOC start to proclaim its governance of Taiwan. It is worthy to note that the indigenous Dika's title'coninck van Formosa'(King of Taiwan)prevalent at that time did not refer to a real aboriginal king of the whole island, it was just a linguistic term used in diplomatic negotiation.