After the Qing Empire signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki, officials on Taiwan opposed to the cession of Taiwan to Japan proclaimed an independent Republic of Formosa and raised forces in order to resist the impending Japanese invasion. On 6 June 1895, in the wake of the Imperial Japanese Army's successful landing and occupation of northern Taiwan, President Tang Ching-sung fled the island. On 26 June the former-Qing garrison commander and vice-president of the Republic of Formosa Liu Yung-fu announced his succession as head of government, and used his base in Tainan as the capital of the second republic.