Under the Qing, Taiwan was administered as a prefecture of Fujian Province for most of this period, before being upgraded to a full province in 1885, reflecting its growing strategic importance. This era saw substantial Han Chinese migration from Fujian and Guangdong on the mainland, establishing the demographic patterns that still largely define the island’s ethnic composition today. It was also a period of frequent conflict between different migrant groups and between settlers and indigenous peoples, whose territory was steadily encroached upon. Taiwan remained a frontier outpost in Qing estimation: difficult terrain, malarial, and administratively troublesome.