As the 2026 Taipei mayoral race gets under way, the KMT and DPP have traded fire from a distance, with the KMT using data to rebut Democratic Progressive Party candidate Shen Po-yang's criticism of the city government's effectiveness.

• Shen Po-yang said central government policies run into obstacles "at every turn" in Taipei, accusing Mayor Chiang Wan-an of lacking vision and not having his heart in Taipei.
• KMT city councillor candidate Chen Kuan-an hit back: on installing elevators in old buildings, the central government's plan has approved zero cases nationwide, while Taipei City alone has accumulated over a hundred applications.
• On flood control, the number of villages and boroughs flooded in Taipei fell from first nationwide in 2022 to 13th nationwide in 2025, while over the same period the figures in some southern counties instead surged several-fold.
• Chen Kuan-an mocked Shen Po-yang for "getting even the basic data wrong and only talking Taipei down," saying his slogan "Get Taipei moving" is really just about getting his own campaign moving.

Other developments in the race are heating up in parallel: Chiang Wan-an was an hour late to a Saturday campaign appearance in Yilan due to traffic and was ribbed by the green camp, while Shen Po-yang counterattacked by pointing to Neihu's "ten years of traffic jams." A rally in Hualien saw a clash break out when a defeated councillor candidate stormed the stage; Changhua County Magistrate Wang Hui-mei skipped campaigning for the party's nominated candidate, and KMT grassroots suspect lingering resentment from the primary. The Legislative Yuan passed on third reading cuts of nearly NT$1 billion to the Ministry of Culture's budget, with PTS and TaiwanPlus hit first; Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu, angered over general budget negotiations, lashed out at Fu Kun-chi, and economist Wu Chia-lung bluntly said the KMT's biggest problem is that it "looks down on Taiwan's voters," and that without resolving its policy direction, it makes no difference who is put up to run.

Outlook: The closer the 2026 election gets, the more intense the offensive and defensive clashes among the blue, green and white camps over Taipei governance, flood control and the budget will become, with KMT internal integration and the struggle over its direction still a variable.