A pedestrian sun shade in Taipei costing NT$7.44 million carries a warranty of just two years, contradicting the city government's earlier claim that it would last 30 years — bad political news for Lee Szu-chuan, the Kuomintang's candidate for New Taipei mayor.

• The exorbitantly priced shades were planned under Lee's direction while he was Taipei deputy mayor and approved by Mayor Chiang Wan-an; not a single one has been built to date.
• Answering questions in the city council, municipal officials acknowledged that the canopy is covered by a two-year warranty and the base by five years, contradicting their early-August defence that the shades were "not expensive because they can last 30 years."
• Subsequent maintenance costs are to be drawn from the streetlight budget, meaning there are hidden expenses on top of the stated cost.
• A single shade costs more than a new Porsche sports car; officials responded that "you can't drive a Porsche for 30 years," which only fuelled the controversy further.
• Democratic Progressive Party New Taipei city councillor Cho Kuan-ting has used the issue to attack Lee's carefully cultivated image of "engineering expertise" and his talk of "joint governance of Taipei and New Taipei," saying he has spent Taipei residents' money and now wants to spend New Taipei residents' money too.

Outlook: The green camp will keep using the shades as material to attack Lee's professional image, carrying the issue all the way into the New Taipei mayoral race.