TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Following his May 20 inauguration, President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) received the approval of 58% of the public, an opinion poll revealed Tuesday (May 28).

His inaugural speech was welcomed by 51.3% of respondents in the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation (TPOF) survey. A statement he made in the speech, that Taiwan and China were not subordinate to each other, received an approval rating of 74.3%, with only 16.1% disagreeing.

Turning Taiwan into a respected country on the international scene was met with the agreement of 79.7% of poll respondents, Radio Taiwan International (RTI) reported. When survey participants were asked about their feelings toward the new president, 54.7% gave a positive reply, 23% said they had no feelings, and 19.1% felt antagonistic toward him.

Concerning Taiwan’s future, 47.2% preferred independence, 12.4% unification with China, and 28.5% the status quo. When respondents from the last group were asked what they would choose if maintaining the status quo was impossible, 38.3% picked independence, 20.8% unification, and 40.8% held on to their original choice for the status quo.

Looking at political parties, Lai’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) finished first with 37%. The Kuomintang (KMT) came second with 21%, followed by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) at 18%.

TPOF Chair Ying-lung You (游盈隆) came up with the survey questions. Focus Survey Research carried out the poll from May 20-22 and received 1,077 valid responses, with a 2.99% margin of error.