Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My experience from China is that people do not care much at all. It doesn't matter if I talk about domestic or international issues. It is not because they don't want to talk to me about it, because they lack knowledge too. In my experience 9 out of 10 are totally apathetic, 5% just spout the party line but will leave if you try to question their views, the last 5% are willing to discuss politics but most of them have no strong opinions.
I don't have too much experience from Taiwan but when I mentioned politics to a Taiwanese, then he started talking about how much he disliked KMT because they want to get closer to China.
That's been my exact experience as an English teacher who spent most of my years teaching English in Japan and South Korea.
Just complete and total unawareness. English teachers try to use current events and politics and conversation starters for practicing English. But, long ago, I stopped with almost all things international. I just found they had almost no background or awareness on any international issue whatsoever.
Actually, I could do things on Japan when I was in South Korea, and I could quickly rile up a lot of hatred about Japan, but they wouldn't know any of the issues. Unless it was something that Japan did that South Korea didn't like, then they'd know every detail about it. But, to bring up something that was happening outside of South Korea...pretty much nothing.
I am not sure what you mean by following politics. Most Chinese people listen to the news each day, but few actively seek up information. Hence they will know the existence of Obama or even Hollande, but they don't know much about them.
And people listen to the news in western countries too. In America its very focused on domestic events, but in Europe it is not.
Do you speak Chinese well? If not you probably cannot have a deep conversation with them. Asians are known to be "insiders".
I live in the US but if you ask me to talk about politics in English, I still have difficulties.
Chinese people may not know much about Obama or Hollande, but people in the west also know nothing about Xi Jinping or Abe. Arguably, China is more important than France nowadays.
Therefore we should compare with domestic issues only.
You can't say that about Taiwan, where the populace is very well engaged in politics - a big change from the martial law days. Election turnout is around 80%, which far exceeds the turnout in the USA.
Well-engaged?I guess so,since there is bribery involved in pretty much every election here,people really are well-engaged in politics.
And the turnout is not really around 80%,more like 70~75%.
Anyway to answer OP's question.Asians are not more interested in politics than Westerners.In Europe and the US,you see people standing up for their own rights.However in Asia,you hardly see that,and that includes the very few functioning democracies here like Japan.
Chinese people may not know much about Obama or Hollande, but people in the west also know nothing about Xi Jinping or Abe. Arguably, China is more important than France nowadays.
That's true. Sometimes, as an American, that can be refreshing, that they know so little about Obama, etc.
I agree though, that most westerners know almost nothing about Asia. I think its mutual in that regard. I was always shocked and surprised how little Asians knew about WWI, WWII, Nazis, etc. But, equally, particularly in Korea, I think they were quite surprised that most westerners didn't think of the Japanese as near equals with Nazi Germany.
That's been my exact experience as an English teacher who spent most of my years teaching English in Japan and South Korea.
Just complete and total unawareness. English teachers try to use current events and politics and conversation starters for practicing English. But, long ago, I stopped with almost all things international. I just found they had almost no background or awareness on any international issue whatsoever.
Actually, I could do things on Japan when I was in South Korea, and I could quickly rile up a lot of hatred about Japan, but they wouldn't know any of the issues. Unless it was something that Japan did that South Korea didn't like, then they'd know every detail about it. But, to bring up something that was happening outside of South Korea...pretty much nothing.
Yes,the ignorance among people here is quite pathetic,and I blame it on the mass media and rote education.
Anyway to answer OP's question.Asians are not more interested in politics than Westerners.In Europe and the US,you see people standing up for their own rights.However in Asia,you hardly see that,and that includes the very few functioning democracies here like Japan.
I think also in Asia, they don't really see a 'conservative' or 'liberal' divide. Mostly because liberal and Asia just doesn't exist.
Most of Asia runs on economic development, with a very very very low interest in all the 'liberal' buzzwords like sustainable growth, gay rights, etc.
I think also in Asia, they don't really see a 'conservative' or 'liberal' divide. Mostly because liberal and Asia just doesn't exist.
Most of Asia runs on economic development, with a very very very low interest in all the 'liberal' buzzwords like sustainable growth, gay rights, etc.
Exactly.ALL of the political parties here are conservative,labor parties and green parties are almost unheard of.Fine there is one green party in Taiwan,but their relevance is next to zero.
That's why I don't think any of the Asian nations would legalize gay marriage,say,before 2050.It's just downright pathetic tbh.
I think also in Asia, they don't really see a 'conservative' or 'liberal' divide. Mostly because liberal and Asia just doesn't exist.
Most of Asia runs on economic development, with a very very very low interest in all the 'liberal' buzzwords like sustainable growth, gay rights, etc.
Yeah, the concepts of liberal and conservative do not apply to Asia well.
For example, the Republicans in the US may advocate a small government and more religious freedom, which China government does not like; but on the other hand, both the Republicans and China government may favor a tougher stance toward criminals, and traditional marriage and so on. Communism definitely shares some ideology with liberalism too, but also is opposite in other ways.
I am not talking about internet posters, but people in general.
I mean, it seems Asians (mainly east and southeast Asians) like to talk about politics more than Americans, and maybe Europeans. Europeans are more interested in politics than Americans.
Fox news shows some American college students of today do not know what ISIS is (never heard of the beheading), and many people cannot recognize Hillary Clinton's image. I think in Asian countries people are more involved.
No. It's not even possible in many countries in Asia. One-party and/or Communist regimes. There's nothing to get involved with.
Hillary Clinton has been in the media almost every day for decades now. That "many people cannot recognize" her image is hard to believe.
No. It's not even possible in many countries in Asia. One-party and/or Communist regimes. There's nothing to get involved with.
Hillary Clinton has been in the media almost every day for decades now. That "many people cannot recognize" her image is hard to believe.
Which media are you referring to? They're hardly not going to put a non-head of state/government into the media spotlight abroad, are they? Just because she's in the news very frequently here doesn't mean she is abroad
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
