Is the Third Way Possible for Peace? The Dilemma of National Identity in Taiwan and Beyond

Abstract

(from the chapter) The people of Taiwan are facing a dilemma of double identity because both Taiwanese identity and Chinese identity are viable (Huang, Liu, & Chang, 2004). Double identity refers to an ambivalence about national identity and entails anxiety about collective identity as a result of the standoff between Taiwan's two major political parties, the Democratic People's Party (DPP) and the Chinese Nationalist Party, Kuomintang (KMT) (Anderson, 2004; Hwang, 2005). The DPP supports the independence of Taiwan, while the KMT opposes the idea of Taiwan's independence. In the beginning, KMT formally claimed that the Republic of China (ROC) is the legitimate government of the whole of China in spite of the fact that the People's Republic of China (PRC) was recognized as a sovereign state by the United Nations. Nevertheless, after year 2004 KMT increased informal rapprochement with Mainland China. The KMT has ruled Taiwan from 1949 to 2000. The DPP was able to gain control of the executive branch of government in 2000 for the first time, but the KMT won back the executive branch in March 2008. This series of political events have caused conflict in society and across the strait. How has Taiwan come to such a predicament? What is the psychological substance of these dilemmas? Can they be transformed or settled in the future? In order to understand current conflict-and-peace phenomena in Taiwan, this chapter examines previous research from the historical, political, social, and psychological literature with an emphasis on psychological research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved) (chapter)