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Tensions between China and Taiwan have been heightened significantly lately. This paper is aimed at investigating the cross-Strait relations from Taiwan's perspective concerning, in particular, Taiwan's economic policy toward China. Indeed, China has long been Taiwan's largest trading partner; yet, political relationship between the two has fluctuated over time. On the one hand, China has been an attractive market for Taiwanese businesses, but one the other hand, there have also been economic and security concerns about Taiwan's dependence on China. This paper shows the connections between political and economic factors which jointly affect Taiwan's economic policy toward China. It argues that there may be a general equilibrium—a median voter—but it has often been distorted by the institutional constraints in Taiwan's political process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taiwan is a divided society/divided along the lines of ethnicity and national identity. During much of the 1980s and earlier, ethnicity played an important role for the opposition movement to mobilize popular support in fighting for democracy, but as Taiwan becomes democratic, national identity turns out to be more salient than ethnicity in shaping political competition on the island. As shown by survey data, national identity is indeed the dominant cleavage underpinning Taiwan's party system. And since there is a high degree of stability in the distribution of the popular attitude toward the national identity issue, we also witness a relatively stable alignment between the two major political groupings, the pan-Kuomintang (KMT) and pan-Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) camps, even though there have been splits within each camp. Although such a cleavage is highly contentious, and could bring about serious conflicts in the society, thus far, as a result of the convergence toward the middle point, namely, the status quo, and the threat of a formidable enemy across the Taiwan Strait, the situation has not got out of hand. Since the division between Taiwan and China may not be easily resolved, national identity will remain a major political issue in Taiwan for years to come. Keywords: ethnicity; mildly divided society; national identity; party system; quasi-pluralistic social order, Taiwan is divided along the lines of ethnicity and national identity. When Taiwan was ruled under authoritarianism, ethnicity was an important rallying point for the opposition movement to mobilize the [...]

Whether China will become democratic is an interesting question with significant practical implications. This paper draws on the experiences of other Confucian societies (mainly Taiwan and South Korea) to show that it will be very difficult for China to become democratic anytime soon. Basically, in a Confucian society, people live in collectivities with stringent hierarchical structures. Such a feature is not conducive to democratization. In the cases of Taiwan and South Korea, cultural change, the emergence of a pluralistic social order following economic development, and foreign influence may have all contributed to their transition to democracy; however, more important is the quasi-pluralistic social order--namely, ethnic and national identity cleavages in Taiwan and regionalism in South Korea--in clearing the hurdle placed by the Confucian culture. Unfortunately, in China, no ready-made quasi-pluralistic social order exists, and other factors conducive to democratization may not be forthcoming soon, rendering the prospect of democratic transition in the foreseeable future quite bleak., Introduction Whether China will become democratic has long been a major concern for those interested in Chinese politics. Chinese people and Chinese-born scholars share an interest in exploring the possibilities [...]

The relations between China and Taiwan (cross-Strait relations) have been a thorny issue for all parties concerned. These relations are one of the flashpoints in the world, which may trigger a serious military conflict. They involve not only China and Taiwan but also the United States. The purpose of this paper is to account for the trajectory of this triangular relationship with the help of opinion surveys in Taiwan. It is shown that when the Kuomintang (KMT) gains the governing power in Taiwan, Taiwan is the median voter in the cross-Strait relations game at the international level while as a non-traditional KMT or the Democratic Progressive Party is in power, it is the US that turns out to be the median voter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Department of Government and International Studies, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208 U.S.A. Journal of Asian and African Studies Vol.35 (2000) pp.29-42 [No abstract [...]

The Sunflower Student Movement was a significant event in Taiwan’s political history. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, we argue that the effect of the movement on the attitude of the general public, particularly the young, toward the cross-Strait economic interactions and the perception that Taiwan may be forced to make political concessions resulting from such ties is limited. Based on the Taiwan National Security surveys, we find out that the movement, to a certain extent, reflected public sentiment already existing in the society, and did not push the sentiment further. Compared to the attitude toward national identity, which is more long-lasting, the views on the cross-Strait economic ties may be more volatile, and are thus less predictable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Lukang rebellion, as dubbed by Reardon-Anderson, taking place in 1986 and 1987 was certainly an important event in Taiwan's political history. On the one hand, it can be viewed [...]