Politics In Taiwan Research Articles

China-Bound for Jobs? The Influences of Social Connections and Ethnic Politics in Taiwan

AbstractTaiwan has long been recognized as a labour-absorbing society, but today approximately 3 per cent of its population is working in China, an increasingly important destination for regional immigration. In this article we go beyond conventional immigration economics to examine how social connections and ethnic politics affect Taiwanese motivations to move to China for employment. Results from a national random-sample survey conducted in 2005 are used to analyse the willingness and potentiality of Taiwanese to work in China. The findings indicate that besides human capital factors, social networks and political/ethnic identity offer insights to understanding migrations among Taiwanese, as well as why the vast majority have so little interest in going China-bound.

Taiwanese Identity: Formation, Typology and Political Implications

The identity issue is one of the most widely researched topics in the literature. The strong scholarly interest arises from the fact that identity frequently complicates the relationship among different groups of people and sometimes even contributes to bitter conflict among them. Identity can unite people and makes them consciously aware of the boundary of a collective one belongs to. Such group consciousness can also divide people as a sense of “we-group” vs. “they-group” is formed. The politics of Taiwan and the contemporary cross-Strait relationship are of no exceptions. Indeed, for the first time since the Nationalist government retreated to Taiwan, more than half of the island citizens consider themselves as “Taiwanese” in 2008. The rising Taiwanese identity in recent years has polarized the island society, alarmed Beijing leaders and complicated US-China relations. Given the significance of this development, it is important to examine what the island citizens’ identity really is.Utilizing data collected through public opinion surveys and recently conducted in-depth interviews, this research will examine the following research questions: What is the essence of Taiwan citizens’ identity? With a rising Taiwanese identity, what are its implications to the island country’s future relations with China? Answers to these questions will provide important theoretical insights to the study of identity politics and have significant policy implications for Taiwanese politics, cross-Strait relations as well as the regional stability in East Asia.

Chinese Street Opera in Singapore , and: Peking Opera and Politics in Taiwan (review)

Reviewed by: Chinese Street Opera in Singapore, and: Peking Opera and Politics in Taiwan Shzr Ee Tan (bio) Chinese Street Opera in Singapore. Tong Soon Lee. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2009. 218 pp. Peking Opera and Politics in Taiwan. Nancy Guy. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2005. 230 pp. There can never be too many books on Chinese opera, a genre that has been celebrated and mourned over its cycles of decline and resurgence across various parts of the world, even as it continues to spawn newer manifestations within and without China. Two tomes, both published within the last five years, chart separate histories of the form in Chinese communities beyond the Mainland, attesting to the scene's deeply varied and changing nature. Nancy Guy's seven-chapter volume and Tong Soon Lee's more recent six-part ethnography together present engaging and complementary takes on the practice in Taiwan and Singapore. As pieces of careful and cogently argued research, they provide valuable documentation of the diasporic practice beyond China and Hong Kong, and—read in sequence or simultaneously—cross-fertilize each other theoretically and ethnographically. Exploring nationalist impacts on performing traditions, both books ask important questions of the relationship between culture and policymaking in the predominance of Mainland-derived mandates on cultural flows. To be sure, both books stand firmly on their own merits. Lee's highly accessible, slightly shorter volume is a valuable example of a musical ethnography on Singapore—a subject in itself being rare enough in occurrence. In six well-defined and straightforward chapters sandwiched by an Introduction and a Conclusion, Lee sets out his fundamental premise that the scene is divided between increasingly sidelined professional groups (street opera acts ostensibly staged for the gods but attended by a nonpaying public) and high-profile amateur acts (who, ironically, perform mainly in ticketed events at theaters). [End Page 206] The former are largely supported by religious organizations, street opera buffs, plus small- and big-time Chinese businessmen looking to contribute—in a very public way—to the community while receiving ritual blessings in the process. The latter category, mostly registered as nonprofit organizations, receive funding from state organizations in their personification of the Confucian ideal of amateurism, while striving to remake the idea of cultural authenticity for tourists and potentially culturally atrophied Singaporeans. Lee (163) maintains, "The concept of national culture in Singapore is 'dictated by those who do participate successfully,' not unlike the 'Big Men' theory in organizational studies (Hendry 1999, 567). Indeed, the art-culture system in Singapore defines the middle-and upper-class habitus exemplified in the amateur opera organization, whose members, through their practice of 'positive' social ideals, continue to perpetuate the system. In this way, culture becomes a form of proprietary knowledge, externalized through socialization among a select group. Amateur Chinese opera troupes are able to align their ideology, structure, and practices to that of the state's framework for cultural nationalism, thus constructing a 'trope of amateurism' that defines an aesthetic vocabulary. In contrast, professional opera troupes do not practice such cultural tropes nor do they perform according to the aesthetics of the amateurs in their everyday practices. They are thus relegated to the outside of the conceptual boundaries of the art-culture system. Viewed this way, the management of culture is predisposed to accentuate issues of social status and power (Fournier and Grey 2000, 9)." In the Introduction and chapter 1, Lee sets out a nomenclatural background to the subject at stake. He offers methodical summaries on the unique politics of being Chinese in multicultural and postcolonial Singapore, a useful introduction to Confucian philosophy and practice, and a meticulously researched history of the early Chinese opera scene. While this cross-sectional view informs well upon the telescoped context of his larger arguments on nationalism to come, one could have wished for a slightly more located contextualization of the Chinese opera scene (ultimately a marginalized and small, if socially significant one) in the specific mosaic of music practice and consumption in contemporary Singapore (of which Western and Chinese pop play influential parts). This tiny oversight is more than compensated for, however, in chapter 2, where a rich and detailed ethnography...

From Glass Clique to Tongzhi Nation: Crystal Boys, Identity Formation, and the Politics of Sexual Shame

This article proposes a historically and movement-wise contextualized reading of Pai Hsien-yung's Crystal Boys, known as the first “gay” novel in Taiwan. As the novel was taken up as a signifier in the new tongzhi politics in 1990s Taiwan, the article shows, its legacy as a historical representation of male prostitution culture was left out entirely. Through genealogical investigation, the article argues that tongzhi politics and subjectivity as articulated through Crystal Boys is founded upon the normative exclusion of the gendered prostitute subject and that such a repudiation is complicit with the dominant moral-sexual order upheld by Taiwan's state culture. In querying this limiting continuity, this artcile demonstrates in particular that the novel represents a particular “state affect” of gendered sexual shame linked to prostitution, a shame that later came to be displaced by the emerging tongzhi_movement through its political praxis of “coming out.” By tracing the trajectory of identity formation process via the (re)articulation of Crystal Boys, this paper thus highlights the centrality of prostitution in the state production of heteronormativity in Taiwan as it argues for a queer politics that critically engages that normative condition.

Zhengxu Wang, Democratization in Confucian East Asia: Citizen Politics in China, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan

This book studies the impact of modernization on value change and the impact of value change on democracy in six East Asian societies: China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Vietnam, with an emphasis on China’s experience. Based on four waves of World Value Survey (WVS) data, the author assesses the relations between economic development, self expression values and democracy in these countries. In the lineage of Inglehart and Welzel’s theory of post-materialism and self expression values, the author studied the level of self expression values in these Asian societies. While Inglehart’s studies focused on society level, the author sought to determine the relations between values and politics at the individual level. The first three chapters of the book have a good theoretical discussion of the relations between democratic values, democratization and democratic consolidation. In Chapter Four the author carefully explains his choice of test variables and his measurement methods. In the chapter, the author shows clearly that economic development in recent decades has brought about a higher level of self expression values in the six East Asian societies. There was a clear increase of self expression values in these six societies from the 1930s to 1990s, confirming the intergenerational value change thesis. In Chapter Five, the author shows education is an important factor in increasing self expression values in these six societies. In particular, college education makes a qualitative difference, the impact of which is greater than the effects of the extra years of education in college. Part III (Chapters Six to Eight) studied the relations between prodemocratic values and democratic politics. Chapter Six showed that people who have higher self expression values have higher protest potential. Chapter Seven shows that self expression values have a positive contribution on civil involvement. Chapter Eight explains the anomaly of high political trust in China. The author tests several East Asia (2010) 27:209–210 DOI 10.1007/s12140-010-9108-x

Commentary on “A Modest Proposal for a Basic Agreement on Peaceful Cross-Strait Development” by Chang Ya-chung

This critique assesses Prof. Chang Ya-chung's draft basic agreement for cross-Strait relations by arguing that it overstates changes in Beijing's Taiwan policy, which is based on a strategy that has not seen substantial change since it was devised in the early 1990s to prevent the island's democratization leading to the exercise of self-determination. By over-estimating Taiwan's political, diplomatic, military, and economic vulnerability the proposal unnecessarily narrows down Taibei's options to the point where it has to accept Beijing's one-China principle. This merely closes off other options that Taiwan can just as readily pursue, such as continuing to develop cross-Strait relations through ad hoc solutions to practical problems or seeking more imaginative ways to create a durable modus vivendi with international support. Even more problematic is that a political framework for stability based on the principles of Chinese nationalism is unlikely to be acceptable for Taiwan's liberal-democratic politics and could thus amount to an unnecessary risk that would lead to a less durable cross-Strait status quo than that which has been maintained over the last two decades.

Geotechnical Investigations of Sand Dune beneath the Fort Zeelandia, Tainan, Taiwan

Fort Zeelandia is the first brick fort in Taiwan built by Dutch in the early 17th century. This fortress represents not only the former capital of economy, politics and military of Taiwan at that time, but also poses a significant milestone representing the initiating of recording Taiwan to the world history. In spite of the great importance of Fort Zeelandia to the Taiwanese and world history, only a few remaining walls are still visible on the ground. The lack of researches causes essential problems to define its earlier boundaries, realize the use of the land, and conserve the historic remaining walls. This paper presents a series of studies on the sand dune beneath the fortress. The results provide a reference to realize local geotechnical properties and the possible mechanism to cause the collapse of the fortress.

The Transition of Taiwan's Political Geography

AbstractThis article reveals that the pan-blue camp has traditionally enjoyed a stable regional stronghold in eastern and certain parts of northern Taiwan. The pan-green camp was scattered but grew to form a considerable southern bloc from 1998 to 2000. Ethnic distribution can partially explain this geographical variation.

THE POLITICS OF CRIME IN TAIWAN, HONG KONG AND MACAO

THE POLITICS OF CRIME IN TAIWAN, HONG KONG AND MACAO

Migrant Women’s Bodies as Boundary Markers: Reproductive Crisis and Sexual Control in the Ethnic Frontiers of Taiwan

Migrant Women’s Bodies as Boundary Markers: Reproductive Crisis and Sexual Control in the Ethnic Frontiers of Taiwan

Healthy Democracies: Welfare Politics in Taiwan and South Korea. By Joseph Wong. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2004. 209 pp. $57.95. Cloth.

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Peking Opera and Politics in Taiwan. By Nancy Guy. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2005. xv, 230 pp. $35.00 (cloth).

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Religion and Democracy in Taiwan by Cheng-Tian Kuo (review)

Book Reviews 155 masters as an important part of their direct spiritual heritage. Such claims may have more merit than one may think. STEPHEN ESKILDSEN, The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Religion and Democracy in Taiwan CHENG-TIAN KUO. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2008. x, 161 pages. ISBN 978-0-7914-7445-7. US$35.00 hardcover. Around the world religious beliefs and practices are shaping modern political processes in ways never dreamed of by secular modernization theorists, and these inconvenient facts are forcing revisions in core theories and methods of political science. Modern Taiwan is no exception. Taiwan’s vibrant religious landscape has provided the language and the concepts for bestowing or withholding legitimacy at various stages in its transition to democracy. Political discourse in Taiwan continues to be suffused with religious symbolism and some religious organizations have provided important resources for politicians seeking elections. For example, it is incumbent on politicians of all parties and all manner of religious affiliation to take part in Mazu 媽祖 parades, to have moral dialogues with prominent Buddhist leaders, and to attend Christian prayer breakfasts. This book on religion and democracy in Taiwan is an important and timely contribution not only to the study of politics in Taiwan but to comparative politics in general. Unlike other studies on this subject, this book combines qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Using historical records and personal interviews, the author gives an excellent overview of the religious scene in Taiwan. I know of no other work that gives such a comprehensive yet concise picture. The author organizes his account of each major religious group in Taiwan around that group’s “political theology” and “ecclesiology.” He wants to assess the extent to which such religious beliefs and values support democratic institutions and the influence they might have on contemporary partisan politics. He then presents statistical analyses of the partisan preferences among Taiwan’s major religious groups and their support for democratic values. His statistics show that Daoists and folk-religion believers tend to support the Democratic Progressive Party (民進黨; DPP) coalition (the “pan-green”) and Christians and Buddhists were divided between the DPP and the Kuomintang (國民黨; KMT) coalition (“pan-blue”). Among Christians, the Presbyterians were strong supporters of pan-green, as were members of the Buddhist Dharma Drum Mountain 法鼓山. Other Christians and Buddhists supported pan-blue, with a surprising level of support coming from the Buddhist Compassion Relief Association (commonly known as Ciji 慈濟). However, after controlling for socio-economic 156 Journal of Chinese Religions status and ethnicity, the statistical co-efficients that support most of these trends are rather low, indeed below the threshold of statistical significance. The numbers are suggestive of trends, but do not constitute solid evidence. As for support for democratic values and democratic behavior, Christians rank first, Buddhists second, Daoists third, and folk religious believers last. Within each of these broad groups, there are significant differences. For example, Presbyterians rank higher on support for democratic values (and also for the DPP) than other Christians; Buddha’s Light Mountain (Foguang shan 佛光山) and the Zhong Tai Temple (Zhongtai chansi 中台禪寺) rank higher than other Buddhist groups on support for democratic values. Again, however, the level of statistical significance for such conclusions is low. The author explains these trends in terms of the theologies and ecclesiologies that he has derived from his qualitative studies. Thus, the Calvinist theology and ecclesiology of the Presbyterian Church supports individualism and self-governance. Buddhist “theology” (a Christian concept applied inappropriately to Buddhist cosmology?) and “ecclesiology” engender communitarian identities and stress obedience in religious matters to monastic authorities—and therefore do not support a commitment to democracy. The same is true for Daoist and Confucian traditions and for folk religious beliefs. This explanation is a useful first attempt to suggest answers to suggestive statistical trends. It will provoke fruitful further thinking and debate. But there is obviously still a lot of theoretical and methodological work to be done before we can reach any adequate account of the influence of Taiwanese religion on Taiwanese politics. For one thing, as Kuo recognizes, there are empirical anomalies within his explanatory scheme. Some Buddhists score fairly high on his indicators of commitment to democracy. He...

Music and cultural politics in Taiwan

This article aims to examine the current debate concerning the complicated interplay of nationalism and globalization that, along with associated social changes, determines the cultural diversity of contemporary Taiwanese music today. Despite the deep cultural entanglements of Taiwan's political history, the ethnic identities of Taiwanese indigenous and popular music are crystallized by the ways in which identity is constructed and represented in culture and social relations. Over the past two decades, Taiwanese musical culture has been developed largely in relation to policies to integrate traditional Chinese, local Taiwanese and Western music. The historical and political processes in Taiwan's music are factors are pertinent to what is cultural about politics and what is political about culture. Ethnic indigenization and market globalization are part of the conception and practice of the state/party regime's efforts to co-opt the interest of diverse musical elements in a new collective Taiwanese music identity. •

Classing Ethnicity. Class, Ethnicity, and the Mass Politics of Taiwan's Democratic Transition

Although Taiwan is widely regarded as one of the purest examples of middle-class-driven democratization, this article suggests that the conventional accent on the middle class is misplaced. Instead, the true heroes in the struggle for democracy were the island's working classes, although proper recognition of this fact requires an empirically derived understanding of class that looks beyond formal labor politics. Although the author does not dispute the importance of ethnicity in Taiwanese politics, the findings clearly indicate that ethnic identity was in itself a class issue, as the island's working classes were the most deeply attached to a nativist Taiwanese identity, while members of the middle classes were far more successfully assimilated into the elite “national” culture. The Taiwanese experience thus provides a reminder that many political phenomena apparently framed in ethnic, sectarian terms are in fact undergirded by essentially class-based grievances.

Peking Opera and Politics in Taiwan (review)

Reviewed by: Peking Opera and Politics in Taiwan Cecilia J. Pang Nancy Guy Peking Opera and Politics in TaiwanChampaignUniversity of Illinois Press2005Pp. 240$35.00. Historically, the polemics between Art and the State have been a preoccupation of philosophers and statesmen. From Louis XIV to Adolph Hitler to Mao Tse-Tung, the State has exercised considerable control over Art, except with regard to traditional art forms where aesthetics preside over politics and governments seldom interfere. As detailed by Nancy Guy in her perceptive new book, Peking Opera and Politics in Taiwan, however, "The story of Peking Opera on Taiwan is that of an art caught up in a whirlwind of ideologies" (4–5). In seven clearly defined chapters, the book presents a historical and sociological time line for the development and dismantling of Peking opera in Taiwan. To begin with, Guy carefully chronicles the Taiwanese people's initial patronage of Peking opera as a quest for Chinese identity during the Japanese colonial subjugation, their subsequent passive resistance of the Chinese performance tradition used primarily as a propaganda for mainland recovery by their second colonial Nationalist ruler, and finally their outright rejection of the transplanted art form under the postcolonial rule of Taiwanization since 1988. The relation between Peking opera and the Taiwanese people is intricately complex as the rise and fall of Peking opera's popularity depends entirely on who sits on the ruling throne. Inherently enlightening and informative, Guy's book offers its readers an inspired understanding of how politics and the arts collide in the Republic of China. Her thesis provokes reflections on the parallels between the development of Peking opera in China versus its development in Taiwan. On the mainland, Peking opera evolved from a popular regional entertainment for the people to winning the imperial patronage of Emperor Qinlong during the Qing dynasty (1735–96). Likewise, as a result of the establishment of public theaters and touring troupes across the Taiwan strait, Peking opera rose to tremendous popularity in Taiwan during the Japanese colonization, becoming a state-supported art when the Nationalists ( kuomintang) came into power. Moreover, China's meticulous maneuver of Mei Lanfang's international tour success in the thirties revealed that Peking opera could be used as a cultural pawn to spread Chinese culture and identity. Not surprisingly, the Nationalist government took advantage of the Cultural Revolution when traditional Peking opera was supplanted by the model opera in mainland China; it used the opportunity to vie for international recognition by conducting extensive cultural exchange overseas of Peking opera tours so as to disseminate "the image of Taiwan as the bastion of 'authentic' Chinese culture" (57). According to Guy, the Nationalist government, in the name of preserving the "national essence," made a huge effort in Peking opera reform with increased [End Page 252]spending on sponsoring touring troupes, establishing Peking opera training schools, advocating school performances, and publishing Peking opera materials. Yet in their attempts to colonize the Taiwan natives with Chinese culture by preserving and promoting Peking opera, the Nationalist regime eradicated vestiges of the indigenous Taiwanese culture, just as the Communists did away with traditional Chinese cultural heritage. Curiously, while on the mainland, the Red Army was responsible for the disbandment of traditional culture; in Taiwan, the imported culture was financed and operated by the Department of Defense. Its main purpose was to entertain the military and the ruling class. Now it is a customary belief among observers of non-Western theater that globalization, with its implications of technological hegemony and commercialization over tradition, might have sounded the death knell for traditional art forms. Reforms have been underway by various governments including China and Japan to stop the cultural extinction. Therefore, Guy's notion that in Taiwan the government is responsible not only for a lack of interest in the perpetuation of Taiwanese opera but also for the downsizing of the traditional Peking opera is all the more ironic and tragic. In addition, as a reaction to counter the Cultural Revolution, the Nationalist government took an active role in regulating the Peking opera repertoire including banning any post-1949 operas from the mainland. The strict and arbitrary as well as unfairly censored rules...

Is Taiwan's political and economic development an environmental nightmare?

More than a century ago, naturalist Alfred Russell Wallace was impressed with the ecological beauty of Taiwan noting that, ‘Among recent continental islands there is probably none that surpasses in...

The Strategic Logic of Taiwanization

n Taiwan, since the early 1990s, Taiwanese identity has rapidly supplanted Chinese identity. This has pushed all the main political parties to adopt policies favorable to the new identity, and brought the Democratic Progres sive Party to power. Rising Taiwanese identity has also affected military strategies. It has accelerated the cross-strait arms race by alarm ing Beijing, which in turn has led to an offset ting buildup in Taiwan. It has also strengthened Taiwan's will to retain her independence and, thereby, led to newer, more unconventional defense strategies. One such policy is to enhance the ideological legitimacy of Tai wanese nationalism in the United States and Japan. Another policy is to embrace economic integration with China-a development hitherto seen as threatening. A third policy is to deter a Chinese attack by credibly committing Taiwan and its allies to a more dogged fight to preserve Taiwanese independence, even under condi tions where such a fight seems hopeless. Finally, a strong Taiwanese identity makes it more likely that China's increasing conventional military predominance will ultimately call forth a Tai wanese nuclear deterrent. National identity and political development: A distinctly Taiwanese national identity unfolded rapidly following Taiwan's democratization in the late 1980s. This process can be seen in many areas of Taiwan's culture and politics. Consider the changes over time in the familiar polls asking if people identify themselves as Taiwanese, Chi nese, or both. From 1992 to 2004, those that con sider themselves to be only Taiwanese rose from 17.3 percent in 1992, to around 25 percent in the mid-1990s, to around 40 percent from 1999 to the present; whereas those that self-identify exclusively as Chinese fell from about 26 per cent in the early 1.990s, to around 20 percent in the mid-1990s, to a bit over 10 percent in late 2001, to 6.3 percent in June 2004.1 Since the early 1990s, there has been a corre ponding decline in the fortunes of Taiwan's tra itional rul g party, the Kuomintang (KMT). The KMT, which continued to rule Taiwan after being driven f m the mainland in 1949, long presided over an authoritarian regime commit ted to eunification with China under a noncom

Partisan Intervention and Taiwan's China Policy

This article examines the impact of democratization on Taiwan“s foreign policy making. For fifty years, the ruling Kuomintang determined Taiwan's China policy. The democratization that made possible the election of President Chen Shui‐bian, however, complicated foreign policy making by allowing the participation of more voices in Taiwan's politics. For the past five years, the now opposition KMT and other parties have challenged Chen”s China policy with a vastly different foreign policy agenda. This article examines their views, and the influence of party cleavage on Taiwan's China policy. It seeks to answer the following questions: In Taiwan, does “politics stop at the water's edge”? (i.e., is there strong coordination among national officials and politicians), or is the state “disaggregated” with different elements (e.g., political parties) conducting semi‐autonomous foreign policies in the service if disparate societal interests?

Sport as a medium of national resistance: Politics and baseball in Taiwan during Japanese colonialism, 1895–1945

This paper examines the manner in which the Japanese colonial government influenced the development of baseball in Taiwan during the period from 1895 to 1945. The paper seeks to explain the role that baseball played in the divided society of this period. It argues that baseball was a political vehicle used by the Japanese colonial government to promote social integration and it evaluates the responses of the Taiwanese to baseball utilized for this purpose.