Keelung's city government says it cannot afford broad cash handouts and will pay seniors a smaller holiday bonus instead, a sore point for residents watching the central government hand out cash to everyone.

• President Lai has promised every citizen a NT$10,000 cash payout next year.
• Keelung mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang says the city's finances are too weak to match that, offering seniors NT$6,500 for Mid-Autumn Festival and next year's Lunar New Year.
• City revenue keeps shrinking even though the revised tax allocation law sends more money to local governments.
• Challenger Tung Tzu-wei calls the spending unplanned and reactive, saying the city robs one budget line to patch another.
• Tung says the senior payout only appeared before the election, after he proposed bigger holiday bonuses first.

Outlook: Cash handouts look set to be the central fight in Keelung's mayoral race.