There is a struggle between mainladers and native Taiwanese. Mainlanders always set sight on China. They don’t see Taiwan as a separate state. Natives resent mainlanders and China. They would rather side with Japan. Actually they are pro-Japan.
Democratic Progressive Party represents natives and Kuomintang, mainlanders. on the political spectrum, DPP is a liberal party more like Dems in U.S., though. I believe Kaohsiung is the stronghold of natives and DPP.
Thanks for your comments. Makes sense.
The divide is much more generational as well as urban/rural than it is ethnic at this point. Essentially no Taiwanese - be they ethnically Han Chinese, Taiwanese, or Aboriginal (Polynesian) - under the age of 35 has any interest in rejoining the mainland and the vast majority support independence.
This desire for independence is mitigated by the immense economic important of China to Taiwan. Companies like HTC, Asus, Acer, Lenovo, Foxconn and others which are all Taiwanese corporations have their manufacturing in China. China could harm Taiwan tremendously. Imagine if China, Canada, and Mexico all simultaneously stopped importing goods from America and exporting goods to America, it would be about that profound.
So, the youth and the urban population of Taiwan generally favor taking slow, careful steps towards independence. Many younger Taiwanese favor quicker steps, but as they get a little older and enter the workforce, the realize the importance of maintaining China as a trading partner while the move towards independence happens.
Older Taiwanese and rural Taiwanese are more closely allied with the KMT who favor the status quo, with slow movement towards some kind of reconciliation. A lot of this has more to do with guang xi than it does with an actual in depth understanding of the politics of the situation. Much like Americans who blindly vote Dem or GOPe without thinking, these people are allied to the party much more than policy or principle.