The impact of tourism across the Taiwan Strait on the Taiwanese identity

Li Qianqian(Central China Normal University)

Abstract

Nowadays, the search for identity in Taiwan has been more significant today compared to the past because political parties have been attempting to use Taiwanese identity to impact the political loyalty, the democratization as well as language. Based on current situation of tourism cross-Straits, this paper respectively analyzes its economic value, political value as well as cultural value on Taiwanese identity.  This paper finds that due to a series of strategies adopted by Tsai’ government, tourism does not make a big difference in Taiwan’s economy, hence, the interdependence of tourism does not remarkably diminish Taiwanese identity from the perspective of economic value. Furthermore, according to the current perceptions of Taiwanese to Mainland tourists, tourism across Taiwan Strait makes slight influence on Taiwanese identity. Consequently, the current effect of using tourism as an economic lever to encourage political unification is extremely rough and tenuous. Besides,  to some extent, currently tourism is likely to produce greater social and cultural alienation among Taiwanese, which makes a contribution to boost Taiwanese identity. However, the result can be reverse with the current improvement of education and the quality of Chinese and admiration of China’s remarkable development.

Keywords

Tourism; Taiwan Strait; Taiwanese identity

References

Matthews, H. G. (1978). International Tourism: A Social and Political Analysis. Cambridge: Schenkman. Pp. 3-7.

Yu, L., & Chung, M. (2001). Tourism as a Catalytic Force for Low-Politics Activities between Politically Divided Countries: The Cases of South/North Korea and Taiwan/China. New Political Science, 23(4), 537-545.

Guo, Y., Kim, S. S., Timothy, D. J., & Wang, K. C. (2006). Tourism and reconciliation between Mainland China and Taiwan. Tourism Management, 27(5), 997-1005.

Kim, S. S., & Prideaux, B. (2003). Tourism, peace, politics and ideology: Impacts of the Mt. Gumgang tour project in the Korean Peninsula. Tourism Management, 24(6), 675–685.

Lanfant, M. F., Allcock, J. B., & Bruner, E. M. (1995). International Tourism: Identity and Change. London: SAGE.

Tomaselli, K. G. (Ed.). (2012). Cultural Tourism and Identity Rethinking Indigeneity. Boston: Brill.

Cronin, M., & O'Connor, B. (Eds.). (2003). Irish Tourism Image, Culture and Identity. Buffalo: Channel View Publications.

Frew, E., & White, L. (Eds.). (2011). Tourism and National Identities An international perspective. New York: Routledge.

Cheung, G. (2007). China factors: political perspectives & economic interactions. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers.

Puri, M., & Chand, G. (2009). Tourism Management. Delhi: Global Media.

Lu, L. (1997). Travel Between Politically Divided China And Taiwan. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 2(1), 19-30.

Meyers, J. (2016, October 21). As tensions over Taiwan's national identity reignite, tourists from Mainland China avoid the island. Los Angeles Time. Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-taiwan-tourism-snap-story.html

Mao, B. (1995). Exploration of Partitioned State Tourism: The example of Partitioned China. Digitized These. Retrieved from http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/digitizedtheses/2529/

Dittmer, L., & Kim, S. (1993). National Identity. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press. P. 6.

Horowitz, S., Heo, U., & Tan, A. C. (2007). Identity and Change in East Asian Conflicts. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Jenkins, Richard. (2014). Social Identity (4th ed.). New York: Routledge.

Wu, N. (2012). Will Economic Integration Lead to Political Assimilation? In P. Chow (Ed.), National Identity and Economic Interest: Taiwan’s Competing Options and Their Impacts on Regional Stability. (pp. 187-202). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Chow, P. (2013). Economic Integration Across the Taiwan Strait: Global Perspectives. Mass: Edward Elgar Pub.

Tourism Bureau, M.O.T.C. Republic of China (Taiwan). Visitor Statistics For February, 2017. Retrieved from http://admin.taiwan.net.tw/statistics/release_d_en.aspx?no=7&d=6921

Smith, N. (2016, November 16). China Is Using Tourism to Hit Taiwan Where It Really Hurts. Time. Retrieved from http://time.com/4574290/china-taiwan-tourism-tourists/

Bardenhagen, K. (2017, February 21). Taiwan reduces reliance on mainland Chinese tourists. Deutsche Welle. Retrieved from http://p.dw.com/p/2XxMc

Kin, Y., & Crompton, J. L. (1990). Role of Tourism in Unifying the Two Koreas. Annals of Tourism Research, 17(3), 353-366.

Brown, M. J. (2004). Is Taiwan Chinese? The Impact of Culture, Power, and Migration on Changing Identities. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Rowen, I. (2014). Tourism as a territorial strategy: The case of China and Taiwan. Annals of Tourism Research, 46, 62-74.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.26549/jfr.v1i1.604