François Caron, Belgian-French explorer and politician, 8th Governor of Formosa (born 1600)

François Caron was a French Huguenot refugee to the Netherlands who served the Dutch East India Company for 30 years, rising from cook's mate to the director-general at Batavia (Jakarta), only one grade below governor-general. He retired from the VOC in 1651, and was later recruited to become director-general of the newly formed French East Indies Company in 1665 until his death in 1673.

The governor of Formosa was the head of government of Taiwan during the Dutch colonial period, which lasted from 1624 to 1662. Appointed by the governor-general of the Dutch East Indies in Batavia, the governor of Formosa was empowered to legislate, collect taxes, wage war and declare peace on behalf of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and therefore by extension the Dutch state.