T.Y. Wang, professor of Politics and Government, published a co-authored paper entitled “Taiwan Citizens’ Views of China: What are the Effects of Cross-Strait Contacts?” in Journal of East Asian Studies 17 (2017): 233–243. Employing recently collected survey data, the study examines the effect of cross-Strait contacts on Taiwan citizens’ negative views toward Chinese citizens and the Beijing government.
“Unless contacts can invoke true social bonds, frequent interactions do not have transformative effects on individuals’ political views.” –T.Y. Wang
The empirical results show that casual encounters have no effect on the island residents’ general perception of China. Serious interactions in the form of friendship moderate their unfavorable feelings of Chinese citizens but have no effects on the perception of a hostile Beijing. Unless contacts can invoke true social bonds, frequent interactions do not have transformative effects on individuals’ political views. The moderating effect of contacts at the personal level is not transferable to a political entity when the latter is perceived as a suppressing agent.
