Why is Establishing Democracy so Difficult in China: The Challenge of China’s National Identity Question

Abstract

China now faces a national identity problem, that is, sections of the national population do not identify with the Chinese nation-state in which they live. Tibetans, for example, endeavor to create their own political identity through the reconstruction of a Tibetan cultural and ethnic identity. China’s national identity problem also involves the question of reunification with Taiwan. In Taiwan, both the Guomindang (GMD) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) governments have refused to reunify with China. The question of Taiwan and Tibet are different cases and require different treatment,1 but Beijing’s response to the two questions - refusing to adopt a democratic approach - is the same.