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Constructing an identity scale to analyze changes in One China identity: evidence from Taiwanese student delegations visiting Mainland China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2019

Chia-Chou Wang Open the ORCID record for Chia-Chou Wang [Opens in a new window]
Chia-Chou Wang*
Affiliation:
Department of Public Policy and Management, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan, R.O.C.
*
Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

It is both academically and practically valuable to construct a multi-dimensional scale to assess the effectiveness of the Communist Party of China's (CPC) policy toward Taiwan. The author constructed a One China identity scale based on national identity theory and the CPC's political advocacy and actions toward Taiwan. Using panel data from 271 members of Taiwanese student delegations to Mainland China from 2016 to 2017, this study explored the changes in their sense of a One China identity. The results showed a significant increase (0.11, 5.19%) in the average ratings of the investigated students' One China identity. The regression equation constructed by the current study was able to explain 10.94% of the total variance of the One China identity scale, and all three hypotheses were supported. Following the exchange program, Taiwanese students appeared to have a greater sense of a One China identity. Their impression of Mainland China had improved, their acceptance of the CPC's regime had increased, and their preference for authoritarianism had increased.

Keywords

cross-strait relationsnational identitypolitical socializationrational choicesocial contact
Type
Research Article
Information
Japanese Journal of Political Science , Volume 20 , Issue 4 , December 2019 , pp. 209 - 224
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

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