R.O.C. Republic of China or Republic of Confusion?

The nationalist monopoly ended in 2000 with the electoral success of the Democratic Progressive Party (the DPP) led by perceived independence ideologue Chen Shui-Bian. However, socio-political change has not necessarily dispelled all thought of conflict with Mainland China, which recently passed the 'Secession Law', declaring any bid for independence to be an aggressive act. Is the threat of conflict an inescapable feature of China-Taiwan relations? Taking into account the fact that human responses are explained in terms of their antecedents - their stimuli, this book attempts to trace the ways in which the people of Taiwan have responded to the ongoing uncertainty and confusion that has marked their relations with Mainland China in recent times and explore the socio-political, linguistic, ethnic and cultural influences that have contributed to the rise of Taiwanese nationalism, its unique identity and associated ideologies such as Taiwanisation and localisation over the past fifty years. It also probes the debate that surrounds what may be the single most delicate and dangerous issue of East Asian internal relations, i.e. the problem of Mainland China vis-ŕ-vis Taiwan.