TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A DPP poll released Tuesday ahead of President Lai Ching-te’s (賴清德) second anniversary in office found that 56.4% approved of his performance, while 51.8% said they trusted the president.
The survey found more than 70% satisfaction with policies aimed at easing the public’s financial burden, and all eight major policy categories received majority approval, according to the Liberty Times. DPP Policy Research Department Director Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said Taiwan’s economy has performed strongly, citing first-quarter economic growth of 13.69%, the highest in 39 years, and an unemployment rate of 3.34%, the lowest in 25 years.
She also said Taiwan’s per capita GDP has surpassed that of Japan and South Korea. According to the poll, 74% of respondents approved of the government’s efforts to reduce the financial burden on the public, while social welfare policies received a 70.7% satisfaction rating, including support from 47% of pan-blue respondents.
Approval for price stabilization policies reached 64.5%, while 55.6% expressed satisfaction with economic growth. Wu said all eight policy categories received approval ratings above 50%, including:
- Reducing the public burden at 74%
- Social welfare at 70.7%
- Price stability at 64.5%
- Safeguarding sovereignty at 59.9%
- Economic growth at 55.6%
- Defense affairs at 54.7%
- Foreign affairs at 54.6%
- Cross-strait policy at 53.9%
Among issues tied to presidential authority, measures to counter Chinese infiltration and strengthen national security investigations under the category of safeguarding national sovereignty received 59.9% approval.
Policies related to defense affairs, including increasing the defense budget, promoting domestic defense production, and advancing Taiwan’s indigenous submarine program, received a 54.7% approval rating. Diplomatic affairs initiatives, such as overcoming China’s diplomatic pressure and visits to allied nations, received 54.6% approval.
Cross-strait policies, including a reporting system for travel to China and a requirement that Chinese spouses seeking elected office renounce Chinese nationality, received 53.9% support.
The poll was conducted by the DPP polling center from May 11-13 and surveyed citizens aged 20 and older. A total of 1,071 valid responses were collected, with a margin of error of approximately 3 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.
Lai’s approval rating after two years in office slipped only slightly from the 57.3% recorded around his first anniversary in 2025, per RTI. Meanwhile, an opposition-backed attempt to impeach Lai on Tuesday failed after receiving 56 votes in favor and 50 against, falling well short of the 76 votes required for passage.
