The Republic of Formosa ( literally Democratic State of Taiwan , also known informally in English as the Formosan Republic , Taiwan Republic or Republic of Taiwan ) was a short-lived republic that existed on the island of Taiwan in 1895 between the formal cession of Taiwan by the Qing Dynasty of China to the Empire of Japan by the Treaty of Shimonoseki and its invasion and occupation by Japanese troops .
In English it was also called the : Formosan Republic , Taiwan Republic and the Republic of Formosa .