In the past six decades, Taiwan’s China studies have undergone a gradual shift from a focus on policy analysis and political indoctrination to one that is centered on scholarly research with policy analysis as its secondary aim. During this process, the role of the IIR has shifted from that of a government think tank, monopolizing China studies and serving the top brass jointly with other state-dominated research units, to a competitor for academic achievement and policy influence in a pluralistic academic and political market. This article will examine this marked transition across three dimensions: the IIR’s relationship with the state, the educational backgrounds of IIR research fellows, and the editorial policy of major IIR journals. This article argues that the dynamics of such a transformation come from generational replacements of scholars on the one hand, and the amelioration of cross-Taiwan Strait relations and political and educational developments in Taiwan on the other.