Taiwan recently witnessed a sudden increase of opposition political activities among the Taiwanese. Given that the social, economic, political and cultural developments Taiwan experienced during the past four decades were expected to facilitate assimilation between the Mainlanders and the Taiwanese, the Taiwanese insurgence at this time was somewhat unexpected. To account for this development, this dissertation examines: (1) the causes and pattern of ethnic assimilation between the two groups; and (2) the connection of ethnic assimilation and the recent insurgence. The central thesis of this dissertation is that development of the opposition movement after 1986 was a result of a successful ethnic mobilization among the Taiwanese who rose to request for renegotiating the ethnic distribution of political power. The ethnic mobilization was facilitated by the change in the external environment of the movement, which included: (1) the increase of regime permissiveness, (2) the emerging opportunities of political competition, and (3) the emerging regional persistence of ethnic differences. Ironically, all three elements were caused by the pattern of ethnic assimilation. The main body consists of six chapters. Chapter 1 raises the question of the unexpected resurgence among the Taiwanese and proposes a framework of ethnic mobilization to its explanation. Chapter 2 provides a historical overview of the formation of the two ethnic groups, and patterns of intergroup relation during the past four decades. Chapter 3 examines two dimensions of cultural assimilation among the Taiwanese: language shift and identification with China. Using a survey data set collected by the Global Views Monthly in 1987, chapter 3 shows that the two major elements of ethnic differences were well preserved among the less-educated Taiwanese who reside outside the northern region of Taiwan. Chapter 4 investigates the alleged ethnic discrimination in the labor market by analyzing a data set coded from the Managers of the Creditable Enterprises in the R.O.C.. A pattern of ethnic assimilation similar to chapter 3 is found. Chapter 5 examines the various forms of participation in the opposition movement to test the ethnic mobilization argument. The development of the opposition after 1986 was found to begin in more assimilated areas and rapidly spread to the less assimilated areas through the tactic of ethnic mobilization. Chapter 6 draws a brief conclusion of what has been found.

The core of the thesis is, taking Chinese and Taiwanese identities in the contemporary Taiwanese society as cases, to discover how people perceive, formulate, and interact with identities. The research implements the grounded theory and in-depth interview research method, conducting 108 interviews in different regions of Taiwan from 2010 to 2013. The main argument is that identity in and of itself is merely a generic label, which does not cause emotions or behaviours - people know they are ascribed to certain categories, but they lack of motivations to take actions for the categorical groups. Only those identities articulated with 'emotion- or value-oriented discourses' can gain the capacity of provoking people's feelings and mobilising people to act. My research identifies and gives explicit discussions on two types of emotion-oriented discourses - imagined nostalgia and ethical narrative (which is also a value-oriented discourse), and three kinds of value-oriented discourses. They are: (1) Ethical narrative sets moral values for its audience; (2) cultural hierarchy defines socio-cultural values in society; and (3) political ideology signifies core political values of its audience. By treating identity as emotion- or value- oriented discourse, the thesis challenges traditional stereotypes of Taiwanese and Chinese identities in the society - such as identifying as Taiwanese means desiring independence, or all waishengren group would claim Chinese identity - and offers adequate theories to explain why it is not the case. The thesis emphasises that there is no determinant identity in the society, and it is possible for people to have a certain degree of free will choosing to accept or to reject the operation of an identity. The thesis takes critical views on identity politics, deeming it as a risky, double-edged sword in the contemporary politics, which should be carefully examined and substituted with another ideology capable to achieve political emancipation.