Two of Taiwan's biggest-city mayors and mayoral hopefuls are talking up cross-river cooperation, a friendly signal for voters in the Taipei area ahead of the local elections.

• Li Si-chuan, the KMT candidate for New Taipei mayor, picked up on Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an's river theme and noted his own name contains the character for "river."
• He pointed to the four waterways tying New Taipei's 29 districts together: the Tamsui, Xindian, Dahan and Keelung rivers.
• He listed small local projects along them, including a crossing built for crabs on the Xindian River and the Xinyue Bridge over the Dahan.
• After fireworks lit both banks of the Tamsui last weekend, the two agreed to hold more joint events across the river.
• The pitch is that the Tamsui should link the two cities rather than divide them, with smoother commuting and a shared daily life zone.

Outlook: Expect more joint Taipei–New Taipei events and infrastructure talk as the mayoral race heats up.