In May 1890, the governor of Taiwan, Liu Ming-chuan commissioned a Briton, H.C. Matheson, to survey Kaohsiung Harbor. The Governor planned to expand the scale of trading activities. In 1891, only one sailboat and eight ships called at Kaohsiung Harbor, according to the report of Tainan Customs. In 1895, Taiwan was ceded to Japan under the Treaty of Shimonoseki that ended the Sino-Japanese War and on September 15th of the following year, the Japanese army occupied Kaohsiung Harbor. In 1899, Japan announced plans to further develop Kaohsiung Harbor due to its strategic location and good conditions.