Feeling Blue: Understanding Why Taiwanese Youth Are Less Pro-independence

• In Event: China and Taiwan in the News

Abstract

The goal of this project is to address two interconnected puzzles, one of scholarly inquiry and the other of critical relevance to the foreign policy community: why are Taiwanese youth less pro-independence than in previous years? Why have young Taiwanese voters become more attracted to the pan-blue Taiwan Peoples Party instead of the pan-green Democratic Progressive Party? Theoretically, scholars of Taiwan politics have predicted post-Sunflower Movement cohorts ought to be more pro-independence leaning, but empirically young voters seem to be averse to the pro-independence leaning Democratic Progressive Party. Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods to answer these questions, I conducted a Taiwan-wide research project that combines surveys, discussion groups, and interview methodologies to hear and understand from young Taiwanese voters. I find that youth attitudes towards both Taiwan’s question of contestation, identity, and support for independence vary widely by those within the “youth” category. Despite lower support for the Democratic Progressive Party and pro-independence politics, young people are still deeply supportive of Taiwan’s defacto independent status-quo. Furthermore, youth attitudes vary on which other non-contested related issues ought to be prioritized. Understanding how the youngest cohort of voters in Taiwan feels about politics, identity, China, the US, and their own aspirations will become a paramount question for both scholars and politicians in the coming years.

Author

• Lev Nachman, National Taiwan University