TAIPEI (TVBS News) — President Lai Ching-te's (賴清德) approval rating climbed to 43.4% in a new poll released Tuesday (Dec. 23), narrowing the gap with his 48.6% disapproval rating. The Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation (TPOF, 台灣民意基金會) poll shows approval increased 5.5 percentage points, cutting the approval-disapproval gap by 6.8 points. Lai's approval ratings remain lower than disapproval ratings despite the improvement.
Foundation Chairman Yu Ying-lung (游盈隆) attributed Lai's improved ratings to his assertive governance, which garnered positive feedback despite higher disapproval. Lai announced a NT$1.25 trillion (around US$39.7 billion) investment in the "T-Dome" (台灣之盾) defense initiative over eight years on Nov. 26. He also contributed an opinion piece to The Washington Post on U.S.-Taiwan relations.
Lai's interview with The New York Times on Dec. 4 focused on China's aggression and U.S.-Taiwan relations, drawing national attention. Domestically, he opposed the opposition-led amendment to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財劃法) in the Legislative Yuan (立法院), Taiwan's parliament. Lai maintained a firm stance against rival factions on the fiscal legislation.
Yu noted that Lai's rising popularity stems from waning public discontent following a major recall campaign and renewed support amid recent government and legislative confrontations. The foundation commissioned Focus Survey Research (山水民意研究公司) to conduct the poll from Dec. 15 to Dec. 17. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.99 percentage points. ◼ (At time of reporting, US$1 equals approximately NT$31.5)
