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Unpopular but TRUE Observations about Taiwanese People
By a Taiwanese American freethinker
(an oxymoron I know, but I’m a rare kind)
“The only thing
that counts for these people is food and making money...” - A Swiss woman
who lived in Taiwan
Warning: The following contains observations that are taboo, forbidden and
NOT politically correct at all so may be offensive to some. If you place
political correctness above the truth, then this is not for you.
Intro and Disclaimer:
These are the patterns and tendencies I've consistently observed in Taiwanese
people in general. They do not apply to every Taiwanese individual of
course, since there are always individual variations in any group. But
they are CONSISTENT patterns I've seen in typical Taiwanese people. If you've
ever wondered why many Asians you see are timid, shy, hardly ever smile,
non-expressive, and look very stern, serious and solemn, this will help explain
why.
Also, this is not meant to be an organized exposition, just a collection of
thoughts and observations, so you may find some parts repetitive.
- In
- Though Taiwanese are good natured people, caring and sensitive deep down beneath their closed narrow exterior, unfortunately they can be a negative influence. This is because they are extremely fearful and weak deep down (conditioned to be that way by their culture and family), lacking any true confidence, and so if you hang around them too much it can rub off on you, making you weak and fearful as well. In the big picture that is not a good thing, because that is how the elite controls the population, by segregating the population and conditioning them to live in fear.
- Taiwanese are an odd blend of traits. Deep down, their basic nature is gentle,
peace loving, kind, soft, sensitive, good natured,
humble and moralistic. But they are also tense, high strung, quick
to anger, narrow, closed-minded, non-expressive, uptight, strict, stern,
solemn, rigid, controlling, fearful, and introverted.
- Taiwanese are not easy to meet since they have a closed exterior and wear a
prudish mask, but once you get to know them, you see that they are caring,
sensitive and generous. They become
kind, hospitable, and open their homes to you. On the other hand, Americans
may chit chat casually with people, but do not easily invite people into their
homes and personal lives.
- Beneath their closed exterior, Taiwanese and Chinese women
deep down have a caring sensitive nature, as well as a delicacy with things,
that females of other races, especially white, do NOT have.
- The issue of whether Taiwanese people are generally friendly or not is subjective, as each person has their own standards of what “friendliness” is. I would say that Taiwanese people are only friendly in their own way, that is, in a “closed narrow way” within their boundaries. But they are not friendly in an open, carefree, free-flowing, expressive way. By nature, they are not open, so they are not friendly in an “open” way, but more in a closed, tight, rigid manner. This is difficult to explain in words, you’d have to observe them on a regular basis to see what I mean. They are definitely polite though.
- Deep down, Taiwanese folks are kind and honest. But there is a coldness to their nature as though they've lost the
ability to enjoy life. It's very sad. In a Swiss article, a
Taiwanese woman interviewed said, "Many people
don’t work till
- In Taiwanese culture, only two things are important – MAKING MONEY and
FOOD. Now there's nothing wrong with those things, since they are a part
of life, but if all your interests are limited to ONLY those two things, then
you become narrow and one dimensional, and no fun to be with. And
unfortunately, that’s how many Taiwanese people are. That's why the Night Market in
In an article, a Swiss woman who lived in
- Taiwanese do not live to enjoy life or have fun (compared to other countries).
Enjoying life and having fun makes them feel guilty. They only believe in
short vacations from work and brief periods of unwinding. But prolonged
periods of vacationing, pleasure or recreation are seen as
self-destructive. They are very square, narrow, live
to work, and have few interests.
- The Taiwanese older generation have a way of making
you feel weak, fearful and unconfident when you're around them. It's not
deliberate, but a part of their inner personality. They themselves are
weak and fearful deep down, so they try to transfer it to others, albeit
unconsciously.
- Taiwanese use NEGATIVE reinforcement and conditioning, at least the older generation does. They use fear, guilt and scorn to motivate people. This applies in both the family and the workplace. They actually believe that making you feel SMALL, WEAK and GUILTY helps improve you and makes you perform better! No kidding! It’s kind of demented, sick and twisted, of course, but that’s their philosophy, method and style (perhaps unconsciously or instinctively).
- Generally, Taiwanese people are practical, narrow and emotional, but not
logical or rational. To be logical and rational you have to be broad
minded and balanced in your thinking. But many Taiwanese folks are narrow
and small minded, so cannot be very logical or rational. They also have
no inner confidence or faith, but are weak and fearful deep down, thus they get
offended easily and annoyed easily. When mad or insulted, they can
overcompensate in a rage of fury. Political commentators yell in a rage
of fury on TV all the time, as though it were their standard way of
talking. It seems that there is a mixture of gentleness and intensity
within them.
- In public, Taiwanese people are extremely prudish, at least on the surface, so much in fact that they are proud of it. Even the friendly people there have a prudish vibe, body language and demeanor. So much in fact, that anyone who is NOT prudish is a strange misfit there. That is just really bizarre and creepy, that being “ice cold” is the norm. Ick.
- In Taiwanese and classic Chinese conditioning, CONFIDENCE and ASSERTIVENESS
are NOT valued or encouraged at all. People who are confident are harder
to control, for they do not live in fear, and fear as you know, is the best
control mechanism of a population. And assertiveness is a threat to
authority, and therefore not good for orderly control and hierarchy.
Instead, the primary traits instilled in classic Chinese conditioning are
weakness, humility, obedience, practicality and filial piety.
- For people like me who are open, direct, assertive, open/broad minded,
freethinking, intellectual, and confident,
- Like
- They live to work, and believe that the purpose of life is to work (same
mentality as in
- Taiwanese people, like most in
- If you tell a typical Taiwanese person something that is outside the box,
unconventional, or critiques the system, they can only say "oh ok" or
"oh really" and not much else because their brains can't really
process something that's outside the box. All they can do is be polite at
your attempt to share your ideas with them even though it's beyond them.
- They think only in terms of PRACTICAL things. That's why conversations
with them are not very broad or intellectual in scope. They aren't
knowledgeable about many topics. And thus can't hold conversations beyond
practical things. But they are responsible and work diligently.
- To them, only practical things matter, like work, money, shelter, food,
etc. Deep subjects like Buddhism, Taoism, Eastern Philosophy, the
Analects of Confucius, etc. are for monks, philosophers, and old retired people
contemplating the meaning of their lives and where they will go next.
Young people should only be concerned with practical things and necessities.
- Since they see only surface practicalities, and their minds are designed to
conform and follow, they cannot analyze or critique a system, idea or
philosophy. For example, they like telling you whether they think you're
more fat or skinny than before. But they can't open up the Bible or
Communist Manifesto or read Sigmund Freud's theories and find contradictions,
flaws or fallacies in them. Nor can they critique a theory or argument
point by point, or analyze something deeply. This is because such things requires thinking outside the box and critical
examination. But they are trained (and perhaps genetically inclined) to
be followers who conform and think within a narrow spectrum. Plus they
find intellectual, abstract or philosophical things to be useless and idle, and
of no use in a practical world. If you attempt to discuss such things
with them, they can only say "Oh ok" or "Oh really" or even
"That's useless, why think about it?".
- In their view, too much freedom is bad and results in chaos and the downfall
of society. Control and strict rules are needed to keep things in stable
order. Asserting your opinions and thinking too much is not good either,
but in fact dangerous to the stability and order of society. (We must
have control, control, control!) When Taiwanese
talk about freedom, they usually refer to political and nationalistic freedom
from Mainland
- From birth, they are taught that life is VERY serious. One is not to
smile or be bubbly. One must be stern, solemn, reserved, humble, modest and work hard and diligently. That is how a
good citizen behaves. Your opinions don't count, so don't bother
expressing them. Only your conformity and work ethic matter and define
you as a person. A good person follows and conforms, a bad person
doesn't.
- People don't smile much, unless they are joking with their friends, paid to
smile (e.g. customer service), or want you to buy something. The most
genuine smiles you will see in Taiwan come from older folks (over 40 or 50),
probably because they've learned to loosen up by then and not be so stern and
solemn all day. But young adults, no way.
They are taught to be stern and solemn and they obey that. Hence you see
a strict uptight attitude on their face and demeanor, rather than an open
relaxed one like you would in a more open country. They believe that one should not do whatever
they want, or else chaos will erupt, society will go downhill, and your life
will self-destruct without strict control and discipline. Fear keeps you
in line, so it's good for you.
- When young girls in Taiwan talk amongst each other, the tone of their voice and the way they carry themselves is extremely fake, catty, plastic and totally the opposite of “down to earth”. If you see it regularly, you’ll know what I mean. They also act very fragile, as if touching them will shatter them to pieces and would be an eternal sin. It’s the personification of prudishness off the charts.
- Since they are taught to be humble and quiet, not surprisingly they are not
usually assertive. Thus, their communication skills are short and abrupt,
not articulate or skillful at conveying meanings and details. This can
lead to misunderstandings with people who prefer things to be well defined and
specific, like me. This is why people in Asian commonly give bad
directions, they prefer to point to a general direction rather than give step
by step turns with street names.
- Typically, within families the older generation Taiwanese act like are yelling and arguing as if it were a normal part of their conversation. It’s very odd, like they have deep anger and intensity that needs to be released in such a manner. So either they are quiet and humble, or talk like they are fighting in casual situations. This style of interacting is not logical of course, it’s instinctive and serves no purpose, but of course they don’t see that because their nature is to FOLLOW what they’ve always done, not to seek ways to improve and change. And of course, they are very sensitive to criticism so that when any of these observations are presented to them, they can become angry and defensive.
- Taiwanese people live in FEAR, are controlled by FEAR, and transfer the
FEAR in them to their children as well. It's in their facial expressions,
body language and personal vibes. People who are controlled and motivated
by fear exude a certain type of vibes that you can sense if you're sensitive to
energies and auras. I sense it all the time and it makes me uncomfortable
because I refuse to live in fear. But be around it long enough, and it rubs off on you.
Next time you're out in public or around Taiwanese people, watch their facial
expressions and body language carefully. Or watch Taiwanese actors or
news commentators on YouTube or TV. You will
notice many obvious signs that these people were raised, shaped and conditioned
by FEAR. It becomes painfully obvious after some observation.
They also TRANSFER this fear and guilt within them to their children.
Next time you see a parent scolding his/her child, watch both their faces and
tone of voice. You will notice that during the scolding, there is a TRANSFERENCE of fear from the parent to the child.
With a hypnotic gaze and voice, the parent INJECTS the child with the FEAR
inside them, along with GUILT for misbehaving or being out of line. That
is CLASSIC Chinese style conditioning. You can FEEL and SENSE this in the
parent's voice as he/she is scolding or lecturing the child. FEAR is
their primary motivator and tool as well as GUILT as a consequence.
All this is unconscious of course. Taiwanese parents do not consciously
choose to do this or rationally think it out first. It's merely an
instinctual habit that was passed on to them by their parents as well. It
may even be genetic at this point, since it's so inherent and widespread among
the Chinese population. Sadly though, they will even do this over trivial
things, because you have to remember that the Chinese nature is highly picky
and judgmental about little things.
I too was raised with fear/guilt instilling tactics like this, but I saw it for
what it was and diffused it. Through traveling and spiritual exploration,
my natural self came out as my mind became liberated. I learned to assert
myself, be confident, have faith in the universe, and live in optimism, not
fear or guilt. In effect, I've transcended this outdated and primitive
form of mind control by the Taiwanese, the Christian Church and the Military.
Psychologically, they FEAR that if they aren't disciplined, organized and
controlled, then chaos and evil will erupt, leading to the downfall of society
as well as life itself. FEAR keeps them in line, and so it's useful, and
they then in turn use FEAR to control their own children as well.
To make things worse, they also tend to be WORRYWARTS as well. Their
parents constantly worry about every little thing and are very
apprehensive. That of course, reinforces the FEAR that they already live
under, since worry and fear perpetuates each other in a vicious cycle.
- From birth, they are controlled and disciplined with NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT
which consists of two primary motivators - FEAR and GUILT, by their parents and
society. If they disobey or don't conform to rigid standards, they are
made to feel GUILT and SHAME about it. It's a classic Chinese mind
control tactic that I've seen again and again. My parents use it, and so
do many others I've seen. They look at you with a hypnotic gaze that
directly instills a sense of GUILT and SHAME into you, as a correctional
tool. They don't even know they're doing it. It's second nature to
them and a form of negative reinforcement.
This is all very sad of course, and unevolved.
They view FEAR and GUILT as good things, efficient psychological control
methods that keep people in line. Parents and teachers use it on
children, who then in turn use it on their children in the future.
- They are also taught to FEAR strangers and be paranoid of them, which is
ironic because
That is one reason why young adults in
- They are NOT taught to be self-confident, assertive, courageous, or to have
faith in themselves or life. Instead, they are taught to be weak, afraid,
timid, reserved and humble. They are made dependent on guidance,
correction and control. To them, confidence and assertiveness are not
virtues, but meekness and filial piety are. In addition, they are often
ridiculed and verbally abused by their parents, just for the heck of it.
And when that happens, they are to take it without resistance.
- If you are a guy who likes meeting beautiful women, there are many stunning
lookers in
- Out in public, most Taiwanese women wear this "don't
bother me" mask on their face, which is also in their body language and
vibe. Thus, even the bravest guy feels uncomfortable about approaching
them cold. That's because doing so feels illegal and creepish.
So far, every guy who has claimed that Taiwanese girls are open and friendly to
strangers has FAILED and chicked out when I ask them
to approach Taiwanese girls in public. Though they deny it verbally, deep
down they know it's inappropriate and socially unacceptable in
-
- Taiwanese women are very commitment oriented. They do not date for fun or
thrills, but purely for the goal of marriage. They thrive on commitment
and rigid routine, NOT adventure, thrills, excitement, variety or
imagination. In short, they are extremely boring compared to other
foreign women I've experienced. Also, with their purely practical
mindset, don't expect much creativity, imagination or philosophical insights
from them.
- They are taught that being "open minded" is not a good thing
either, for being too open can allow too many conflicting ideas to enter your
head and confuse you, resulting in chaos, disorder and lack of discipline and
control. So, one should be closed minded, and rigidly stick to the set
ways that lead to success, like being practical, humble and working diligently
to please others. It's a military style philosophy.
- Like the Christian fundamentalists, they believe that human nature is
inherently evil and idle, and thus needs to be strictly controlled.
"With too much time on your hands, the devil causes you to do
mischief" so the saying goes. They believe that people need to be
controlled and disciplined until they become hard working obedient humble
people who are kept in line. And of course, they need to live in
fear. Fear is seen as a good thing. It keeps people righteous and
disciplined. Likewise, Christians also live in fear of divine punishment
and hell. The church leaders see this as a good thing. There's a
verse in the Book of Proverbs that says "The fear of the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom." (Proverbs 9:10) That's why many Taiwanese
people convert easily into Evangelical Christianity. It contains all the
inherent facets they were raised and conditioned with - black and white
morality/thinking, strict control of human nature, fear as a disciplinary tool,
strive for righteousness, condemnation of those who believe differently than
you, a highly judgmental mentality, the inherent sinful nature of man, negative
view of freedom and too much free time, puritannical
values, etc.
- Ironically, even though Buddhism is supposed to be an Eastern religion,
Taiwanese people do not have a Buddhist mentality at all. Most are
nothing like "Kwai Chang Caine"
(David Carradine in Kung Fu). They have a
highly materialistic mentality coupled with a strict black and white Christian style
morality, rigid thinking, righteousness, judgmental mindset, and live in fear
and are controlled by it. They also have short fuses and get annoyed or
angry quite easily (remember how easily pissed and angry Bruce Lee got in his
films, that's how he was in real life too) Plus, contrary to the Buddhist
concept of being nonjudgmental and nonattached, they are highly judgmental,
controlling and picky about little things.
- Chinese people are commonly very picky and judgmental about little things,
"anal retentive" in other words. It seems to be in their
nature. This can be good for quality control and is one reason why
Chinese food is so delicious and among the best in the world. But it's
bad for human relations. This is why Chinese people often argue with each
and sour their relations, even with relatives and close friends. They
tend to make a big deal out of nothing. Their controlling nature is
adamant about getting their way, and they lack people skills as well as the
ability to compromise. Being highly tense, they are not at peace or at
one with nature or the universe. As a result, Chinese couples tend to
argue about little things over and over again, often for years without
end. It's highly irrational of course, but this is the behavior of those
who are petty, uptight and anal retentive. People who are closed minded,
anal, rigid and judgmental will have trouble getting along even with their own
kind, while open minded nonjudgmental types are much better at getting along
without fussing over trivial things. The latter are more tolerant and
usually have far better people skills and communication skills.
- Most Taiwanese families are very rigid in their routines. They go to
bed and rise at the same time each day, even on weekends, and eat at the same
time each day. They will never eat dinner in front of the TV like some
American families do. Everything is set in a highly structured
routine. There is little or no variety in their lives. But they
like it that way. They thrive on rigid routines, and are squarer than a
table.
Conclusion:
Although there are individual variations and exceptions to the rule, in general Taiwanese people and culture in general is narrow, conservative, prudish and square. Only two things matter to them, food and making money, making them very one-dimensional and no fun. They do not live to enjoy life, but to be workaholics and are empty without work. They are also among the most prudish and square people I’ve ever met. And of course, they live in fear, weakness and have no self-confidence. Such traits are typical in societies where the elite need to keep people under control and servitude, in order to maintain their power and prevent any revolutions. Taiwanese need to wake up and realize that they are infinite consciousness at their root who can choose to live in love, oneness and spirituality, rather than remain subservient fearful drones who only live to produce and consume. As David Icke says, “Infinite Love is the only truth. All else is illusion.”
Many of my observations have been confirmed by a Swiss Journalist. You
can see his report and observations about Taiwan in this revealing article
here.
A former Missionary also validated my observations, which you can read here.