T.Y. Wang, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Politics and Government, delivered speeches at two universities in the United Kingdom May 3 to 4. Wang’s talks were to promote his new book, The Taiwan Voter, which was published by the University of Michigan Press.

Arguing that political cleavage is central to the study of politics, Wang indicated that Taiwan’s future relationship with China, manifested in the Chinese/Taiwanese identity and the issue of unification versus independence, has been considered the most important political cleavage on the island. The key political divide is cloaked in the island citizens’ partisan attachment and is the major determinant of Taiwanese citizens’ electoral behavior.

Wang was invited by the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) of University of London and University of Nottingham.