The Taiwanese search for an identity would not be the subject of so many studies and headlines if there were no conflict across the Taiwan Strait. But because of the prevailing circumstances on the island of 23 million people, every move and declaration by its politicians has been scrutinized, studied and debated. Stephane Corcuff and the eight authors of the book have taken the scholarly opportunity to write about these identity issues, which they say date back to 1895 when the Qing dynasty gave Taiwan away to Japan under the Shimonoseki treaty. Japan occupied Taiwan for 50 years, ending only with its defeat at the end of World War II.

The Shimonoseki treaty remains a contentious issue in the current debate on identity because Taiwan's population is divided among groups that believe they are either Taiwanese or Chinese, or both. But before readers get to the statistics showing the percentage of Taiwanese who want to define themselves as Chinese or Taiwanese, or both, the authors take us through history, particularly through the period of Japanese occupation of Taiwan, which they believe has had a tremendous impact on Taiwanese consciousness.

Following the end of Japanese occupation in 1947, it was the authoritarian regime of the KMT and the Taiwan overseas independence movement that pushed forward the identity issue. The movement took place outside of Taiwan in reaction to KMT rule on the island, and began mostly as a clandestine political organization. The identity issue became a nationwide debate between mainlanders and Taiwan-born people.

The Taiwan independence movement activists were mostly native Taiwanese, born between the 1930s and 1940s, who had the opportunity to study abroad, mostly in North America. With their high level of education, the activists identified strongly with their place of birth even though they felt marginalized, according to the authors.

During his tenure, President Lee Teng-hui did his best to resolve differences on the identity issue at a time when Taiwan was maturing into a full-fledged democratic country and becoming a significant trading partner in the world market. Reforms involving the issuance of new banknotes, school textbooks and even the disappearance of the image of Chiang Kai-shek were part of the trend to define a new identity and symbols of a new Taiwan. The lifting of martial law under the KMT regime in 1987 has fostered various ideas about identity.

The trends toward a Taiwanese identity became stronger in the late 1990s when polls showed that a majority preferred to be known as Taiwanese, followed by groups that wanted to remain "Taiwanese and also Chinese," and others who wanted to be "Chinese and also Taiwanese" and lastly "Chinese."

In the chapter on national identity and ethnicity in Taiwan, author Robert Marsh says surveys reveal that "the will of the people and geopolitical considerations lead to the same conclusion" about the Taiwanese identity.

"Although attitudes show a trend toward Taiwan independence and away from unification with China, an even stronger trend supports pragmatism," he says. Marsh says pragmatists believe in Taiwan's independence and want mainland China to accept it. But they also think that unification is possible if mainland China becomes more democratic and is developed economically to the same degree as Taiwan.

If history can teach us about the future, research done by the authors and Stephane Corcuff shows that Taiwanese people should go back to the historical roots of the identity issues in order to find the answers to current questions.