TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Identity may be key to understanding how candidates carve out their own space in Taiwan's presidential election campaign, according to new research out of Dartmouth College in the United States.

Coauthored by Herbert Chang (張賀鈞) and Sunny Fang (方愉), the research analyzes a massive dataset of social and traditional media items to explore how candidates engage voters and with what result. The paper describes Taiwan's two major parties and their "group-based" expressions of identity: the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) as an expression of Taiwan as a sovereign state, and the Kuomintang's (KMT) as an expression of Chinese nationalism.

Speaking to Taiwan News on Thursday (Oct. 26), Chang said minor candidates have found support by appealing to individual level identity, while the mainstream parties continue to appeal a group level identity. “The story in the past was very simple” Chang said. “DPP means Taiwanese identity, and pro-independence, KMT means pro-unification and Chinese identity.”

In contrast, minor candidates find space in the political discussion by appealing to individual identities. This might mean labeling oneself a “Taiwanese” or “Chinese person,” or a mixture of both.

Chang said this can be observed in supporters of the Taiwan People's Party (TPP) and its candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲). "They are younger, they are born Taiwanese, so they self-identify as Taiwanese,” he said. Conversely, Chang said Ko very rarely refers to concepts of identity at the national level.

Candidates may also blend the group and individual. “We noticed both Hou and Ko attempted to ‘fuse’ the two terms at the group level by saying ‘Republic of China Taiwan (中華民國台灣)’ to appeal to those who identify more strongly with Chinese identity,” the research notes.

Ko Wen-je speaks about domestic governance reform in front of the words "united Taiwan" on Friday. (CNA photo)

A poll released earlier in October showed support for maintaining the cross-strait status quo in Taiwan has reached a record high. Chang said his research finds evidence that this aspect of Taiwan’s national identity is formed on a pragmatic basis.

Returning to the example of Ko’s supporters, Chang said there is a strong preference for the individual level identity as a Taiwanese person that does not carry over to the group level. “At the group level, (Ko supporters) might think it's more of a pragmatic choice to maintain the name of Republic of China, for geopolitical reasons.”

The events in “Hong Kong showed the importance of freedom and autonomy, but Ukraine showed the risks of war as well. So, the status quo is where people want to be,” he said.

The research also showed voters may be less likely to compromise on their choice of candidate simply to ensure those they do not like are not elected, Chang said. “At least up until this point, people seem to care more about their own candidate's platform than trying to slam their opponents.”

Chang said this is a good thing for a democracy, as the research indicates “attacking your opponent still generates a positive effect, but it's not as strong as talking about your own position,” he said.

“It’s healthy to stand behind a candidate’s position, rather than behind your dislike of another opponent.”