Abstract
Identities have been viewed as determining Taiwan’s China policy, but this article argues that identities cannot explain Taipei’s China policy without reference to rationality. The article develops a theoretical framework that synthesises identities and rationality and examines Taipei’s cross-Strait exchange programs. We argue that whether Taipei imposes or relaxes bans on cross-Strait exchanges depends not only on its identities but also on its rational decisions in response to the status of cross-Strait relations. On the one hand, a Taiwanese administration that upholds a one-China identity rationally restricts exchanges when cross-Strait relations are tense; conversely, it opens exchanges during cross-Strait détente. On the other hand, when Taipei embraces a Taiwanese identity, it is only in times of cross-Strait tensions that Taipei advances exchanges as a rational gesture of goodwill taken to avoid spirals of tension; conversely, exchanges will be low on Taipei’s policy priority list when cross-Strait crises recede.
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