The conflict between Taiwanese identity and Chinese identity is the most salient issue in Taiwan's politics since the democratic transition in the late 1980's. It is also the only division between two main political parties. Many people claim with the findings from polls conducted by news media and government that Taiwanese identity is now the mainstream political attitude. The claim, though not wrong, is too simplistic. This article presents the findings of national surveys from 1992 to 2005, which used different and more adequate measurement for national identity. It also summarizes findings from previous researches concerning the trend and change of national identity. Firstly, "Taiwanese identity"has indeed grown greatly at the expense of Chinese identity. Second, "Taiwanese nationalism" surged in the first few years following the democratic transition, but has stagnated in the recent years. In contrast, the Chinese nationalism has declined rapidly, but Chinese identity continued to persist. As a result, people with"dual identity" constitute a significant proportion among the populace. Third, with important political implication, Chinese mainlanders and native Taiwanese experienced different trends of identity change. While native Taiwanese replaced the Chinese nationalism with Taiwanese identity, Chinese mainlanders adopted a new Taiwanese identity without giving up the formerly held Chinese identity. Fourth, the national identity of all nationalist groups was volatile, experiencing significant change within a short span of two years.
