On the Chinese mainland Zhang Zhidong, the powerful Viceroy of Liangjiang, tacitly supported the Formosan resistance movement, and the Republicans also appointed Chen Jitong, a disgraced Chinese diplomat who understood European ways of thinking, as the Republic's foreign minister.
Viceroy Zhang Zhidong of Liangjiang on the Chinese mainland tacitly backed the Formosan resistance movement, while the Republicans chose Chen Jitong, a former Chinese diplomat with knowledge of European thought, to serve as their foreign minister.