Orchid Island was first mapped on Japanese charts as Tabako-shima in the early 17th century and Tabaco Xima on a French map of 1654. The Japanese government declared the island an ethnological research area being off-limits to the public. This restriction remained in effect when the Republic of China took over Taiwan in 1945, but it was lifted in 1967. It was because the Tao have the best preserved traditions among the Taiwanese aborigines. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orchid_Island)