The Study Of Political Identity Of New And Old Generation In Taiwan And Its Impact On Cross-strait Relations

There are some differences between new and old politicalgeneration’s political identity while great changes have taken place inTaiwan’s political development. Then what’s the differences? Firstly, thewriter gives the clear definition of how to group the political generations.Secondly, this essay analyzes the differences between social cleavages,using longitudinal survey data. This essay investigates the differentpolitical identities of them, exploring their impacts on cross-strait relations.The results signal a notable trend that, the new generation is not assupportive of the DPP as before on issues such as unification vs.independence, ethnic identity, and party identification. The DPP’sengineering of Taiwan consciousness and Taiwan independence has notproduced the anticipated effects on the new generation. Instead, the newgeneration has tended to adopt a moderate position in favor of maintainingthe status across the Taiwan Strait and a dual identity for themselves. Thistrend is conducive to mitigating social polarization and to the peacefuldevelopment of the cross-strait relations. Adding the moderate position onunification vs. independence and self-identity, this essay concludes with anoptimistic perspective of Taiwan’s democracy and cross-strait relationsbased on the political attitudes of the new generation.