A survey released by the Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation in late September found that President Tsai Ing-wen’s approval ratings dropped by 11 percentage points from the previous month. The foundation, which is ideologically aligned with Tsai’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, attributed the drop to Tsai’s decision at the end of August to lift restrictions on imports of meat from the US. Particularly controversial was the decision to lift an import ban on US pork products containing leanness-enhancing feed additive ractopamine. The restrictions will be lifted at the start of next year.

The foundation said the recent visits to Taiwan by a Czech delegation, led by Czech Senate President Miloš Vystrči, and by US Under Secretary of State Keith Krach have helped raised Taiwan’s profile and perhaps Tsai’s prestige as well. However, Tsai’s unexpected easing of import restrictions and her poor communication with the public in the ensuing weeks angered voters. 

Meanwhile, another survey, conducted by the pro-DPP online media outlet Formosa, shows that public confidence in President Tsai and satisfaction with her governance are both down. The survey, released earlier this week, found that confidence in Tsai dropped by 6.4 percentage points and satisfaction with her governance slid by 6.6 percentage points from the previous month.