0 SHARES Share Tweet

A recent telephone survey released by a nonprofit think tank known to be aligned to Taiwan’s ruling Pan-Green Coalition have shown that controversial issues such as same-sex marriage and National Health Insurance coverage are dividing the country.

The survey also indicated that President, Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) popularity continues to slide as her unfavorability ratings rose above her favorability ratings since coming into office earlier this May .

A survey by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation shows that President Tsai Ing-wen's popularity has declined over the past two months. — ICRT News (@ICRTNews) July 27, 2016

The majority of Taiwanese surveyed more disapproved than approved of President Tsai for the first time since she took office in May, according to local publication Taipei Times.

Prior to her election, Ms Tsai was a strong proponent of gay rights.

I wrote about Tawian's first female president Tsai Ing-Wen: democracy campaigner, Gay rights champion and cat-lover https://t.co/BLM1NvcfJb — Maya Oppenheim (@MayaOppenheim) January 18, 2016

It is unclear whether her stance will hurt her as the survey revealed that Taiwanese were fairly split on the issue of gay marriage.

The recently proposed amendments to the civil code to legalize same-sex marriage also appeared to divide respondents, had passed on Tuesday the 8th. 47.8 percent of respondents supported the legalization of same sex marriage while 41.7 percent opposing it .

The survey had Tsai’s approval rating falling 7.9 percent to 40.6 percent, while her disapproval rating increased from 38.4 percent to 42.8 percent according to the most recent polls.

The survey indicated a general displeasure with the Tsai administration’s plan to extend National Health Insurance (NHI) coverage to Chinese students.

The proposal has yet to pass Taiwan’s legislature. 51.5 percent of respondents supported the plan, which was proposed by Tsai last month on humanitarian grounds, while 41 percent did not approve.

With regards to relations with the mainland, the poll indicated that 46.9 percent of respondents said there is no need for the government to acknowledge the so-called “1992 consensus” to develop cross-strait ties, while 29.5 percent were supportive.