Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1468109923000014
Title: 'Stand up like a Taiwanese!': PRC coercion and public preferences for resistance
Authors: Chong, Ja Ian 
Huang, David WF
Wu, Wen-Chin
Keywords: Social Sciences
Political Science
Government & Law
China
cross-Strait relations
IR theory
survey
Taiwan
SANCTIONS
OPINION
Issue Date: Jun-2023
Publisher: CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS
Citation: Chong, Ja Ian, Huang, David WF, Wu, Wen-Chin (2023-06). 'Stand up like a Taiwanese!': PRC coercion and public preferences for resistance. JAPANESE JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE 24 (2) : 208-229. ScholarBank@NUS Repository. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1468109923000014
Abstract: Taiwan's opposition to PRC demands such as acceptance of the '92 Consensus' and 'One Country, Two Systems' formula since 2016 has invited a series of retaliatory measures from Beijing, designed to coerce Taiwan into compliance. Given the stark asymmetry in economic size, military capability, and diplomatic status, Taiwan provides a case for studying coercive diplomacy that takes the form of threats to punish. Material differences suggest that Taiwan should capitulate, and 'cheap talk' theses expect PRC threats to have no discernible effect, while balance of threat arguments expect resolve. In this article, we use the survey data collected in the 2016, 2019, and 2020 rounds of the Taiwan National Security Study to examine how Taiwanese respond to China's intensifying and expanding threats. Our paper identifies four strategies that the public sees as responses to PRC coercion: isolation, bandwagon with China, balance against China by allying with the USA and Japan, and hedge by deepening economic ties with China while aligning with the USA and Japan against China. We show that the popular support for balancing against China rises as PRC coercion grows and Taiwanese citizens increasingly perceive China to be a threat. Our findings imply that citizens in a liberal democracy can develop the will to pushback against pressure from an authoritarian regime despite sharp asymmetries in capabilities and material limitations.
Source Title: JAPANESE JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
URI: https://scholarbank.nus.edu.sg/handle/10635/243197
ISSN: 1468-1099
1474-0060
DOI: 10.1017/S1468109923000014
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