Taiwan’s Aim-Inhibited Quest for Identity and the China Factor

Abstract

The realization of a positive and well-integrated national identity is difficult even under the most favorable circumstances. Korea, Chechen, and the Palestinians are notorious recent examples of national identities destined, due to a combination of circumstances, to remain frustrated to some extent. Taiwan has, since relinquishing its claim to be sole international representative of ‘China’ as hopelessly unrealistic in the early 1990s, faced formidable practical problems in its quest for national identity. This article attempts to comprehend Taiwan’s aim-inhibited quest for ethnic and national identity in the context of Taiwan’s complex and delicate international environment and the cross-Strait dilemma in particular.