TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A Ministry of Foreign Affairs poll shows over half of respondents are satisfied with President Lai Ching-te's (賴清德) overall diplomatic performance.
The ministry said that 54.7% of respondents were satisfied with Lai’s overall diplomatic performance over the past two years. Another 66.5% supported the ministry’s “Integrated Diplomacy” framework, while 65.6% backed the “Diplomatic Allies Prosperity Project.”
In addition, 77.8% supported establishing a “dual ministerial meeting” mechanism linking the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with 10 other ministries. It said this reflects broad support for cross-ministerial coordination in diplomacy.
On international relations, 59.3% of respondents said Taiwan should prioritize strengthening economic and trade ties with the US. Meanwhile, 67.1% supported increasing the defense budget to build a T-Dome defense system.
Regarding Lai’s recent delegation visit to Eswatini, Taiwan’s diplomatic ally in Africa, 66.3% of respondents said they were satisfied with the trip. In addition, 69.2% supported continued presidential visits to diplomatic allies to deepen cooperation.
On diplomatic engagement and countermeasures, 86.2% supported continued government efforts to secure international backing. Amid disputes over nationality labeling in official documents, 82.3% expressed satisfaction with the ministry’s handling of South Korea’s electronic arrival card issue, while 77% supported countermeasures after Denmark listed Taiwanese residency card nationality as “China.”
Regarding Taiwan’s international space, 83.8% supported the ministry’s plans to establish new overseas representative offices or branches. A further 93.9% backed expanding direct flight routes between Taipei and foreign destinations, reflecting demand for greater international connectivity.
Additionally, 70% said overseas visits by Taiwanese officials enhance national pride. Compared with a “China Taiwan” approach (16.5%), 73.4% supported Lai’s “Democratic Taiwan” framing as Taiwan’s preferred national identity and development direction.
Meanwhile, 52.6% said foreign relations are more important than cross-strait relations, compared with 36.2% who said the opposite. The ministry said this reflects broad public support for Taiwan’s international engagement.
The poll was conducted by True Number Survey Research using landline and mobile telephone interviews with stratified random sampling. It included 1,524 respondents aged 20 and above across all 22 cities and counties in Taiwan, with a margin of error of 2.4 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.
