Collective interests and private interests are often at odds in political life.  If faced with such a dilemma, what stance would Taiwanese take?  By starting from the problem, we employ cross-Strait exchanges as the case, and examine the choices of the Taiwanese people.  We conduct three cross-sectional surveys to observe the dynamics of their choices both with and without dilemmas.  Our research findings suggest that these people care about both collective and private interests.  If the two are directly at odds with each other, these people will, however, normally be caught in between and

As the authoritarian regime in Taiwan was transformed into a more democratic system, conflict over national identities has emerged as the most important social cleavage in party competition. Students of nationalism have pointed out that ethnicity lies at the core of modern nationalist movements and nationalist ideology. Nationalism is largely based on collective identity. It commands, in many cases, strong commitment from the members to the welfare of the group.