ABSTRACT
This chapter reports on a number of national surveys that were conducted by Academia Sinica’s Institute of Sociology in order to clarify whether the Taiwanese people placed a greater value on ‘economic interests’ or on ‘national sovereignty’ when asked to choose the major factors that determined their perspective on cross-Strait relations and negotiations. Towards the end of the Ma Ying-jiu era, the percentage of those who valued national sovereignty more than economic interests clearly increased, although those who considered that bilateral negotiations should be given priority, in view of Taiwan’s economic interests, remained more numerous. Particularly during the years from 2013 to 2015, Taiwan’s young people became more nationalistic, no matter what their educational background. This was reflected in the declining support for the Ma administration in its final years in office and in the catalytic effect of the Sunflower Movement in 2014 on the people’s nationalist sentiments. Overall, independent of their economic background, respondents showed an increasing inclination towards choosing national sovereignty over economic interests, and middle-of-the-road voters displayed the steepest rise, compared with ‘pan-blue’ and ‘pan-green’ supporters.
