Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te publicly campaigned for Ho Hsin-chun, the Democratic Progressive Party's candidate for Taichung mayor, and floated the idea of relocating the Legislative Yuan and the Executive Yuan to Taichung — a boost for the city's electoral prospects and for development in central Taiwan.

• Speaking at a Lions Club event in Taichung, Lai said Ho's policy platform pinpointed exactly what is wrong in Taichung, and called her an outstanding legislator.
• He proposed moving the Legislative Yuan and the Executive Yuan to Taichung, arguing that balanced development would strengthen Taiwan's competitiveness and national resilience.
• He said next year's central government budget will be a record, and that an "AI dividend" of NT$10,000 per person will therefore be distributed, stressing that this is a dividend, not borrowed money.
• Accompanying measures include tax cuts, childbirth allowances, tuition and fee subsidies, rent subsidies and long-term care funding, with the aim of turning Taiwan into a welfare state.
• Ho said she would work in tandem with the central government, campaigning on all-age care and social welfare, and would build Taichung into an international city.

Outlook: The race for Taichung mayor has begun early, and the capital-relocation issue and the NT$10,000 AI dividend are expected to become focal points of political contention in the period ahead.