Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

For three straight weeks, a poll of some sort about the social and global awareness of teenagers has appeared in the news. Conducted by different organizations, the latest one published last week showed that 50 percent of teenagers are not interested in or familiar with global issues that are closely tied to Taiwan, such as the South China Sea territorial disputes. When asked to rate themselves and the general public in terms of global perspective, respondents gave both groups a score of less than 60 out of 100.

Maintaining the “status quo” has been President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) theme for handling relations across the Taiwan Strait since she first mentioned it on April 9, 2015, during her election campaign. When she visited the US a month later, Tsai explained her position to the US side and gained its approval, paving the way for a smooth ride in the presidential election.

Then-president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was not at all impressed.