兩岸在主權爭議、對外關係競爭及國際空間的變化發展下，台灣學者在中國外交研究中存在著與他國學者不同的身份地位與觀察角度。在中國外交研究中所運用的文字符號，往往透露了台灣學者自身的影子。本文透過法國精神學家拉康的「鏡像階段」來分析台灣學者如何在不同時期的中國外交研究看待「自我」與「他者」。本文認為台灣的中國外交研究分成三個時期：1977年前的「自我」在「現實」與「想像」的重疊正統時期、1977～1990年末期的「想像」與「現實」辨識時期、以及1990年代末期至今的「自我」與「他者」奠定時期。此三個時期的變化皆凸顯出台灣在兩岸主權、對外關係和國家認同的影響下，使得台灣在中國外交研究從「中國－自我」和「中國－想像的他者」轉變至「中國－他者」。

Amidst the backdrop of sovereign disputes, competition in external relations, and changes in the international space between Mainland China and Taiwan, Taiwanese scholars in the field of the study of Chinese foreign policy possess a distinct status and perspective when compared to scholars from other countries. The use of symbolic language in Chinese foreign policy studies often reveals the unique position of Taiwanese scholars. This paper applies the concept of French psychiatrist Jacques Lacan's "Mirror Stage" to analyze how Taiwanese scholars perceive the "self" and the "other" in the study of Chinese foreign policy during different periods. The paper identifies three distinct phases in Taiwan's Chinese foreign policy study: the pre-1977 period characterized by the overlapping of "reality" and "imagination" in the "self," the period from 1977 to late 1990s marked by the differentiation between "imagination" and "reality" in the "self," and the period from the late 1990s to the present, which solidifies the relationship between the "self" and the "other". The changes across these three periods underscore the influence of sovereignty, external relations, and national identity on Taiwan's Chinese foreign policy study, leading Taiwan to transition from "China-self" and "China-imagined other" to "China-other".