national identity – Taiwan Insight

Batting for the Nation(s): Baseball and the Conditional Rise of Competing Identities in Taiwan

18 June 2026 Chee-Hann Wu

Written by Daniel Yu-Kuei Sun, Jou Fei Huang and Thung-Hong Lin. The article examines how international baseball success influences national identity in Taiwan. Using polling data from the 2024 Premier12 tournament, the authors argue that key victories strengthened exclusive Taiwanese identity while reducing dual Taiwanese-Chinese identification. However, identity shifts varied by opponent and political affiliation, revealing the contingent, emotional, and contested nature of Taiwanese nationhood.

Fists of Identity: How Martial Arts Reflect the Complex Ties Between Taiwan and China

25 October 2024 Adrian Chiu

Written by Mark Gerard Murphy. This article reflects on the intersection of Chinese martial arts and nationalism in both Taiwan and Mainland China. It demonstrates how martial arts were closely tied to nationalist sentiments in different periods of history of both, but each followed distinct paths of development that reflected their respective cultural pride and national identity.

“Chinese Taipei” or “Team Taiwan”? Exploring Sport and National Identity in Contemporary Taiwan

23 October 2024 Adrian Chiu

Written by Daniel Yu-Kuei Sun. This article explores the usage of two terms representing Taiwan’s national team, “Team Chinese Taipei” or “Team Chunghwa” and “Team Taiwan”. It observes a gradual shift in traditional media outlets and social media platforms to use the latter. This identity was best articulate in baseball as it is a uniquely Taiwanese sport with marginal presence in Mainland China.

What is ‘Home’ and Who are the ‘Overseas Chinese’?

23 August 2021 Editor

Written by Yun Seh Lee. This year marks the 100th anniversary of that first KMT-CCP coalition, and the competition across the Taiwan Strait is still going strong. Focusing on the Overseas Chinese communities across the globe – a term populated by the prominent scholar Wang Gungwu – both players have been enthusiastically trying to win the hearts and minds of this diaspora. The label ‘Overseas Chinese’ itself hints at an ongoing link to China, but the PRC and Taiwan dispute the nature of that link and its contemporary manifestation.

Which Nation’s National Music? – A Critical Introduction of Contemporary Chinese Orchestra in Taiwan

30 June 2021 Editor

Written by Min-erh Wang. From the late nineteenth century onwards, Chinese musical culture has been significantly impacted by the importation of Western music. Chinese musicians and intellectuals, therefore, began to organise an orchestra with Chinese instruments as a way for pursuing musical modernisation. The establishment of the music section at the Central Broadcast Station in Chongqing in 1935 was the most prominent example of this trend. By presenting this new ensemble at international occasions, the modern Chinese orchestra was further promoted as ‘Gou Yue (國樂),’ meaning ‘national music,’ in the first half of the twentieth century.

Tsai Ing-Wen’s Inaugural Address for the Second Term: “Unprecedented Challenges and Unparalleled Opportunities”

3 June 2020 Editor

Written by Qi Dongtao. As usual, Tsai Ing-wen’s inaugural speech on May 20 maintained her low-key, down-to-earth style without much surprise. From Beijing’s perspective, since she did not explicitly accept the “one-China principle” in the speech, she failed Beijing’s so-called “exam” again and therefore was severely criticised by Beijing. But since Beijing had already concluded that she would never openly accept the “one-China principle,” her speech did not surprise Beijing.

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