Although the two parties have different supporters in the society,which makes it difficult for the two parties to reconcile with each other,many people have a low evaluation of the democratic practice in Taiwan.Only 30.3%of interviewees felt satisfaction to democratic practice and 61.2%felt dissatisfaction;4.2%felt very satisfied and 30.7%felt very unsatisfied.While 50.7%of KMT supporters felt satisfied and 40.7% of them felt unsatisfied,72%of DPP supporters felt unsatisfied and only 21.8%felt satisfied.When being asked whether the two main parties should insist on their own policy position at the cost of social confrontation,56.9%of KMT supporters disagreed and 32.8%agreed.Meanwhile,47.9%of DPP supporters agreed and 41.7%disagreed. This suggests that a considerable number of KMT or DPP supporters are unsatisfied with democratic practice in Taiwan and do not like the confrontational nature of divergent party politics.Furthermore,according to the survey data,only half of Taiwanese people have party identification or preference.During the 2014 elections,the DDP-supported candidate for Taipei mayoralty Ko Wen-je called for pulling down the high wall separating the Green from the Blue and managed to win quite a few votes of Blue supporters.His challenge to the Blue and Green dichotomy has reflected a considerable number of people's aversion to the divergent party system in Taiwan.Ko's landslide victory therefore may help reduce the confrontational nature of Taiwan's party politics.In a similar vein, Ma Ying-jeou advanced three goals for Taiwan's future in his 2015 New Year speech: social conciliation,cooperation between the administration and opposition parties,and cross-strait peace.What he emphasized in the speech is that all Taiwanese people should share the peace dividends of peaceful development of cross-strait relations.He felt that the administration and the opposition party had accumulated too much confrontation over years to have efficient cooperation,and proposed to understand the issues of youth,labor, weak groups,and rural development with new means,in order to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor.Obviously,his remarks reflect the KMT's reflection over the electoral failure one month earlier.12 C.Ideological and Policy Issues The KMT and the DPP are divided not only on the issues of economic growth versus social distribution and environmental protection,but also on the issue of national identity, which is more difficult to reconcile.The KMT,the Chinese Nationalist Party,is a party for unification by name and historically advocated such a goal.Although over the past two decades,the party has gradually backed away from the vision and moved to the position of maintaining the status quo,it still opposes the idea of Taiwanese independence. Meanwhile,the DPP passed the Taiwan Independence Clause in 1991,the same year when the KMT government passed its National Unification Guidelines.The so-called"Blue Sky and Green Land"in Taiwanese political vocabulary vividly demonstrates the contrast between the two parties.As a long-time ruling party,the KMT has an elitist and idealist orientation,matching perfectly with the term "Blue Sky"and the color of its flag.Taking economic growth,gradual reform and social stability as its priorities,the party gives high 12 Ma Ying-jeou's New Year Speech,"Social Conciliation,Party Cooperation,and Cross-Strait Peace,"China Review Web,accessed at http://www.crntt.com/crn-webapp/search/allDetail.jsp?id=103553023&sw=,accessed on January 6,2015. 1414 Although the two parties have different supporters in the society, which makes it difficult for the two parties to reconcile with each other, many people have a low evaluation of the democratic practice in Taiwan. Only 30.3% of interviewees felt satisfaction to democratic practice and 61.2% felt dissatisfaction; 4.2% felt very satisfied and 30.7% felt very unsatisfied. While 50.7% of KMT supporters felt satisfied and 40.7% of them felt unsatisfied, 72% of DPP supporters felt unsatisfied and only 21.8% felt satisfied. When being asked whether the two main parties should insist on their own policy position at the cost of social confrontation, 56.9% of KMT supporters disagreed and 32.8% agreed. Meanwhile, 47.9% of DPP supporters agreed and 41.7% disagreed. This suggests that a considerable number of KMT or DPP supporters are unsatisfied with democratic practice in Taiwan and do not like the confrontational nature of divergent party politics. Furthermore, according to the survey data, only half of Taiwanese people have party identification or preference. During the 2014 elections, the DDP-supported candidate for Taipei mayoralty Ko Wen-je called for pulling down the high wall separating the Green from the Blue and managed to win quite a few votes of Blue supporters. His challenge to the Blue and Green dichotomy has reflected a considerable number of people’s aversion to the divergent party system in Taiwan. Ko’s landslide victory therefore may help reduce the confrontational nature of Taiwan’s party politics. In a similar vein, Ma Ying-jeou advanced three goals for Taiwan’s future in his 2015 New Year speech: social conciliation, cooperation between the administration and opposition parties, and cross-strait peace. What he emphasized in the speech is that all Taiwanese people should share the peace dividends of peaceful development of cross-strait relations. He felt that the administration and the opposition party had accumulated too much confrontation over years to have efficient cooperation, and proposed to understand the issues of youth, labor, weak groups, and rural development with new means, in order to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor. Obviously, his remarks reflect the KMT’s reflection over the electoral failure one month earlier.12 C. Ideological and Policy Issues The KMT and the DPP are divided not only on the issues of economic growth versus social distribution and environmental protection, but also on the issue of national identity, which is more difficult to reconcile. The KMT, the Chinese Nationalist Party, is a party for unification by name and historically advocated such a goal. Although over the past two decades, the party has gradually backed away from the vision and moved to the position of maintaining the status quo, it still opposes the idea of Taiwanese independence. Meanwhile, the DPP passed the Taiwan Independence Clause in 1991, the same year when the KMT government passed its National Unification Guidelines. The so-called “Blue Sky and Green Land” in Taiwanese political vocabulary vividly demonstrates the contrast between the two parties. As a long-time ruling party, the KMT has an elitist and idealist orientation, matching perfectly with the term “Blue Sky” and the color of its flag. Taking economic growth, gradual reform and social stability as its priorities, the party gives high 12 Ma Ying-jeou’s New Year Speech, “Social Conciliation, Party Cooperation, and Cross-Strait Peace,” China Review Web, accessed at http://www.crntt.com/crn-webapp/search/allDetail.jsp?id=103553023&sw= 马 英 九 , accessed on January 6, 2015