Although more and more people have come to identify themselves as Taiwanese in recent years, this has not necessarily translated into an increase in "Taiwanese nationalism," according to an academic paper yesterday.
The paper on Taiwanese identity was presented by Academia Sinica research fellow Wu Nai-teh (吳乃德) at a forum held in Taipei yesterday to mark the 10th anniversary of the "1996 Missile Crisis."
"Although Taiwanese have different views about identity, almost all Taiwanese agree that the country's future should be decided by the people of Taiwan," Wu concluded in his paper.
According to annual household interview polls conducted by National Chengchi University, Wu said that the results suggested that only 13.6 percent of respondents identified themselves as Taiwanese in 1991. That number had risen to 45.7 percent by late 2004.
In contrast, Wu said the "Chinese consciousness" of respondents has steadily decreased.
While in 1991 43.9 percent of interviewees identified themselves as Chinese, the number was down to 6.3 percent by 2004.
Telephone surveys conducted annually by the university from 1994 to 2005 indicate a similar percentage and a same tendency, Wu said.
Wu added, however, that the polls showed interviewees with double identities (those who identify themselves as both Taiwanese and Chinese) have remained steady.
While 49.7 percentage of the household interviewees described themselves as both Taiwanese and Chinese in 1992, the percentage was 45.4 in 2004.
Telephone surveys indicate that since 1994 to 2005, around 40 to 50 percent of interviewees think of themselves as both Taiwanese and Chinese, Wu said.
In order to further explore the identity issue, Wu said he has conducted annual polls from 1992 to 2004 asking people questions such as "Do you agree that Taiwan should declare independence if it would not cause a war?" and "Do you agree that Taiwan should unite with China if there were no political, economic or social differences between the both sides?"
Wu said the polls found around one-fourth to one-third of respondents had maintained "double identities" over the years.
Wu found in his polls that the percentage of Taiwanese nationalists -- defined as those who consider Taiwan an independent political entity and would never want Taiwan to unite with China, even if both sides had no social differences -- grew very fast after the 1996 missile crisis.
The number rose from 10.3 percent in 1993, to 21.3 percent in 1996, but the percentage has stayed between 20 to 30 percent ever since, he said.
However, Chinese nationalists -- those who would like to see both sides of the Strait unite if they shared the same social conditions, declined from around 40 percent in 1992, to 15 percent in 2004.
Wu said he interviewed the same people in 1998 and 2000, and found that more than half of them had changed their views.
This means that many Tai-wanese are still confused about identity, and are easily affected by political, social and economic circumstances, Wu said.
SEND A MESSAGE: Sinking the amphibious assault ship, the lead warship of its class, is meant to show China the US Navy is capable of sinking their ships, an analyst said The US and allied navies plan to sink a 40,000-tonne ship at the latest Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise to simulate defeating a Chinese amphibious assault on Taiwan. This year’s RIMPAC — the 29th iteration of the world’s largest naval exercise — involves the US, 28 partners, more than 25,000 personnel, 40 warships, three submarines and more than 150 aircraft operating in and around Hawaii from yesterday to Aug. 1, the US Navy said in a press release. The major components of the event include multidomain warfare exercises in multiship surface engagements, anti-submarine warfare and multi-axis defense of a carrier strike
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
The airspace around Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) is to be closed for an hour on July 25 and July 23 respectively, due to the Han Kuang military exercises, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The annual exercise is to be held on Taiwan proper and its outlying islands from July 22 to 26. During last year’s exercise, the military conducted anti-aircraft landing drills at the Taoyuan airport for the first time, for which a one-hour no-fly ban was issued. Based on a live-fire bulletin sent out by the Maritime and Port Bureau, the nation’s
CROSS-BORDER CRIME: The suspects cannot be charged with cybercrime in Indonesia as their targets were in Malaysia, an Indonesian immigration director said Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 103 Taiwanese after a raid at a villa on Bali, officials said yesterday. They were accused of misusing their visas and residence permits, and are suspected of possible cybercrimes, Safar Muhammad Godam, director of immigration supervision and enforcement at the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights told reporters at a news conference. “The 103 foreign nationals stayed at the villa and conducted suspicious activities, which we suspect are activities related to cybercrime activities,” he said, presenting laptops and routers at the news conference. Godam said Indonesian authorities cannot charge them with conducting cybercrime. “During the inspection, we