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Political tolerance is a significant issue for democracies under external threats. When imposed dangers are felt by citizens of the polity, competitors for political power are likely to believe that they are engaging in political battles of a zero-sum nature, having a life or death consequence. Because Taiwan is under constant military pressure from China, it is an excellent case for an analysis of political tolerance in a democracy that is threatened by external forces. Employing recently collected survey data, this study finds that the majority of Taiwanese residents show a willingness to extend rights of citizenship to others in the polity on the most salient issue that divides them. However, the perceived threats from Beijing's claims to the island and from the Taiwan independence movement have had negative impacts on the citizens' level of tolerance. The finding of this study will have important policy implications for Taiwan's young democracy and will also hold significant theoretical implications for the study of political tolerance under threats.

Recent political developments on Taiwan seem to suggest that the issues of ethnic identity and the island's future relationship with China are divisive and polarized. Employing the concept of 'political generation', this study examines six waves of survey data collected through personal interviews. The findings indicate that the ethnic identity of Taiwanese citizens has experienced significant change between 1994 and 2002. Many citizens, especially the younger generations, have increasingly moved away from a Chinese identity in favor of a dual identity, considering themselves to be both Chinese and Taiwanese. Unlike the polarized image painted by the island's politicians, it appears that there is convergence towards this identity across different generations. On the issue of Taiwan's future relations with China, maintaining the status quo with any future action left undetermined is the preferred policy position for younger islanders with the island's eventual unification with China being the favored stand for first generation respondents. Because the third and fourth generations combined have become the largest age cohort in the Taiwanese population, their similar identity and policy preference will have decisive effects on Taipei's current and future domestic and foreign policies.

As staunch believers of the "greater Chinese nationalism," many mainlanders in Taiwan have identified themselves as "Chinese" in both an ethnic & political sense. They have also considered Taiwan to be a part of China & the island's eventual unification with the Chinese mainland as desirable. The rapid democratization of the early 1990s & the victory of the pro-independence Chen Shui-bian in the 2000 & 2004 presidential elections sensitized the island residents' choice of identity as Taiwanese or Chinese & their policy preference on the issue of Taiwan independence. How have the mainlanders on the island responded to these political changes? How can these responses, if any, be explained? And, how have changes in mainlanders' identity affected their policy preferences regarding Taiwan's future relations with China? Utilizing nine sets of survey data collected through personal interviews in Taiwan, this paper shows that mainlanders have been increasingly acculturated & are shifting away from a Chinese identity to a dual Chinese-Taiwanese identity. This progressive change of identity has led many mainlanders to be more supportive of Taiwanese independence or maintaining the status quo while adopting an indeterminate position on the island's future relations with China. Tables, Appendixes, References. Adapted from the source document.