The majority of the nation’s students do not know how many diplomatic allies Taiwan has, according to a poll released by the King Car Education Foundation.
Only 35 percent of respondents identified the correct answer: “Between 21 and 30,” according to the poll, which surveyed junior and senior high-school students and university students.
A total of 65 percent of respondents either got the answer wrong or said they did not know, the results show.
The top three countries that students believe have the biggest influence on Taiwan’s politics and security are the US with 82 percent, China with 65 percent and Japan with 54 percent.
Japan was voted the friendliest country toward Taiwan for the fourth consecutive year, followed by the US, and Taiwan’s diplomatic allies in Africa and Central and South America.
Only 11 percent of respondents said that China is the friendliest country toward Taiwan, but 77 percent said they believe China has the biggest influence over Taiwan’s economic development, followed by the US, Japan and South Korea.
Meanwhile, the international issues that Taiwanese students care most about are climate change (63.6 percent), ecological conservation (44.9 percent), human rights (36.9 percent), the European and Southeast Asian refugee crises (30.5 percent) and cultural preservation (24.8 percent).
The respondents were asked which country — Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia or Indonesia — did not participate in a May meeting held to address the Rohingya refugee crisis.
Only 15 percent of respondents identified the correct answer of Singapore, according to the poll.
Soochow University political science professor Liu Bih-rong (劉必榮) said that a rising Southeast Asia could present opportunities for Taiwan, but the survey shows that Taiwanese students have a poor understanding of the region.
The lack of motivation to learn more about the region, coupled with fragmented reports in the media are the main reasons, he said.
The poll collected a total of 2,352 valid samples. It had a confidence level of 97 percent and a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
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