TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — President Lai Ching-te’s (賴清德) approval rating increased by 2.4%, reaching 54.4%, according to a nationwide poll by My Formosa. 

The poll was based on telephone interviews conducted Aug. 21–23 in 22 counties and cities across Taiwan. A total of 1,082 people over the voting age of 20 were interviewed (757 people on residential phones and 352 on mobile phones), with a sampling error of ±3%, per Newtalk.

The poll comes as Lai recently completed 100 days in office, indicating the public is satisfied with “consistent and stable governance,” according to Chen Min-chi (陳明祺), an associate professor at National Tsing Hua University’s Institute of Sociology. 

“Lai’s public support has improved compared to when he took office. This is not only encouraging for his current administration, but also a solid foundation for Lai's future governance,” said Chen.

Lai’s approval rating is now higher than his May 20 inauguration. According to Chen, the data indicates the opposition party’s “scorched-earth campaign” opposing the Lai administration in the legislature has yet to win public support with constant internal problems within the opposition camp making the public more trustful of Lai, per Newtalk.

Concerning cross-strait issues, Chen said the Lai administration was effective in managing the Kinmen boat capsizing incident, preventing the conflict from expanding, and showing the public that cross-strait issues are managed in a pragmatic spirit.

In terms of diplomacy, Chen said the Lai has actively initiated dialogue with the international community through a "Taiwan Can Help" campaign and strong economic and trade initiatives with foreign partners. Regarding national defense, Lai has undertaken many reforms, including efforts to make military training more pragmatic, as could be seen in the most recent Han Kuang military exercises.

While poll numbers show public support for Lai, hidden dangers persist, such as cross-strait relations, according to Chen. Other factors may also be out of Lai’s control, such as actions by Chinese leader Xi Jinping (習近平), with relations with diplomatic allies continuing to be an important issue.

While Lai has seen rising approval ratings, the opposite has happened to TPP Chair Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), who has faced several financial scandals as his “trust” rating dropped to 23.4%, with public “distrust” rising to 69.1%. This indicates the public has overwhelmingly become distrustful of Ko, per Newtalk.