With the Sunflower Movement of 2014, Taiwanese youth became a significant factor in Taiwan’s politics. In the aftermath of the protests, some assume that young Taiwanese uniformly believe that Taiwan should keep its distance from the Chinese mainland. In fact, however, many have moved to mainland metropolises seeking employment. What does Taiwan’s younger generation really think about China, democracy, and independence vs. unification? The Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (TFD) recently conducted a survey to assess attitudes towards these critical issues. On March 26, 2018, TFD President Szu-chien Hsu shared their findings and discussed how young Taiwanese are shaping the island’s political future.
Dr. Szu-chien Hsu is president of the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (TFD), as well as an associate research fellow at the Institute of Political Science of Academia Sinica in Taipei and director of the Center for Contemporary China at National Tsinghua University in Hsinchu, Taiwan.