ASSESSING TAIWAN's SECOND TRANSITION OF POWER:
A turning point in Taiwan's political development?

Understanding Ma Ying-jeou's Mainland Policy

Baohui Zhang
Associate Professor, Lingnan University

Abstract
Although Taiwan's new approach toward Beijing has profoundly changed cross-strait relations, there have been few systematic studies on the fundamental causes of Ma's Ying-jeou's mainland policy. This paper tries to address this deficiency by examining domestic and international factors that facilitated the rise of a new policy paradigm in Taiwan's mainland strategy. The paper will also address both the roles of individual leaders and structural factors in the rise of the new paradigm.

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