Taiwan: National Identity and Democratization (review)

Reviews 551 Alan M. Wachman. Taiwan: National Identity and Democratization. Armonk, New York: M. E. Sharpe, 1994. 294 pp. Hardcover $55.00, isbn 156324 -398-9. Paperback $19.95, iSBN !-56324-399-7. During the 1950s and 1960s, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek ruled the Republic of China (ROC or Taiwan) with an iron fist. But those days are over. Taiwan is well on the way to becoming one ofAsia's liveliest multiparty democracies. In 1990, Taiwan held free elections to choose a new National Assembly, the body that elects the ROCs president and amends the Constitution. In 1992, elections were held to select a new Legislative Yuan, the ROCs legislative body. In 1994, the island held elections to select the provincial governor and the mayors of Taipei and Kaohsiung. In early 1996, Taiwan will hold its first-ever direct election ofa president. These and other moves—including the lifting ofmartial law, the legalization ofopposition parties, and the deregulation of the print and broadcast media—stand in stark contrast to the hard-line responses ofthe People's Republic of China to popular demands for democratic reform. Taiwan: National Identity and Democratization represents an ambitious effort to explore Taiwan's democratization from the perspective ofthe national identity problem. As Wachman notes, "students of democracy have held that if there is not a commonly accepted view ofthe identity ofthe state in which a given population lives, it is not possible to transform that state into a democratic one" (p. 32). But Taiwan's democratization challenges that assumption. This makes Taiwan a very interesting case study. To a considerable degree, Wachman's book is based on interviews with leading figures in the ruling Kuomintang (Nationalist) Party and the opposition Democratic Progressive Party. At the same time, however, it is clear that Wachman has a firm grasp ofthe scholarly literature pertaining to nationalism, democratization, and the entire "Taiwan experience." In short, this study is thoroughly researched. The book consists ofeight chapters and a conclusion. The introductory chapters 1 and 2 and the final chapter 8 are more theoretical and analytical. They will appeal to anyone with a broad interest in nationalism and/or democratization. Two ofthe most interesting chapters are those that adopt more ofa historical perspective (3 and 4). These tackle the origins ofthe "identity question" in Taiwan . Wachman carefully examines the history, culture, and politics ofthe island's© 1996 fry University various ethnic groups, and, in doing so, he successfully avoids the oversimplificaofHawai 'iPressuon 0flazily dividing the population into two homogeneous groups—mainlanders and "native" Taiwanese. The book's remaining chapters (5, 6, and 7), trace the 552 China Review International: Vol. 3, No. 2, Fall 1996 island's political reform process, examine its political symbolism, and discuss its election politics. Wachman's conclusion, albeit interesting, is rather disappointing. After all, few will quarrel with the assertion that Taiwan has metamorphosed into a democracy . Although Wachman is able to show readers how and why Taiwan democratized without a consensus on national identity (he claims that the alternative is "certain chaos"), he stops short ofattempting to apply the island's experience to other societies. He seems satisfied to suggest that the Taiwan case is something of an anomaly and appears content to leave it at that. Despite these shortcomings, this is a book that both East Asian specialists and students ofnationalism and democratization should find worth reading and discussing . It is an especially helpful volume for those who seek to gain an understanding ofpolitics in Asia's noisiest and most spirited democracy. On this level, the book is an unqualified success. Dennis Van Vranken Hickey Southwest Missouri State University Dennis Van Vranken Hickey is an Associate Professor ofPolitical Science specializing in Taiwan, China and the international relations ofEast Asia. Arthur Waldron. From War to Nationalism: China's TurningPoint, 19241925 . Cambridge, New York, and Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 1995. xix, 280 pp. Hardcover $39.95, isbn 0-521-47238-5. It was once axiomatic to European militarists that war was the mother ofculture and the father of national construction—militarism was the number one "ism." In any case, no one who seeks to understand China's twentieth-century experience can ignore the relationship between war...