Is it safe, as a forginer, to open a topic about about Taiwan’s history with a (older) Taiwanese person who is not exactly a close friend but a friend nonetheless? Not as giving opinions but rather asking for one, with the intention to learn.
I’ve never had any issues talking politics to people here.
Of course. Be prepared though, if you get opinionated and happen to have the wrong opinions, you may find the conversation and even the relationship becomes unpleasant and/or is cut short.
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I’d say in general yes, but it really depends on the person. If it turns out to be an older ideologue, you may find them sharing a little more than you were hoping for (whether Green or Blue). Some of them can be like broken records, and it may be hard to shut them up. In any case, I’ve never gotten in trouble talking politics with locals, and I’ve done a lot of it.
Personally, I wouldn’t. People I know well sometimes talk politics with me, but I tend to just nod and smile. I often don’t agree with their opinions, particularly their positive opinions about China, but I don’t see any point in getting into an argument about it.
Taiwanese love to talk politics with foreigners in my experience, especially old people.
When asked by older blues why I like the greens, my answer goes as follows.
The greens have done more for us foreigners than the blues and have progressively made our lives easier with introducing the APRC and loosening up naturalisation laws. They’re the more foreigner-friendly of the two. If I pick a party, I am going to pick the ones that give me more.
People are usually like. Oh…good point.