Reconstructed nationalism in T aiwan: a politicised and economically driven identity

Since the late 1980s, T aiwan has been engulfed in waves of both democratisation and integration with mainland C hina. These two waves have pulled identity reconstruction in T aiwan in two different directions. In the process of democratisation, a shift to a majoritarian system encouraged a T aiwanese renaissance on the political platform and consequently led to the deconstruction of C hinese identity. On the other hand, in the 1990s, with the high mobility of capital and people across the T aiwan S trait, close economic ties could have put the brakes on T aiwan independence movements. Hence, this paper uses random coefficient models to explore how the democratic transition and increasing cross‐strait relations brought about psychological and structural mechanisms that motivated people to opt for identity change in T aiwan. It also attempts to investigate how people dealt with the dissonance between rising Taiwanese nationalism and the economic interests that deterred a radical Taiwanese identity.