The author, Professor Tai Kuo-hui, says clearly in his first chapter that his aim in researching post-war Taiwanese history is to trace back the problem of Taiwanese identity after retrocession. It is a matter of, "What significance do China and the Chinese people have for my existence?"
本書作者戴國輝教授在第一章中表白，他研究台灣戰後史的目的在於追索台灣光復後，台灣人的身分認同問題，也就是：「中國及中國人這個身分對我的『存在』有什麼樣的意義？」