The New Taipei mayoral race has seen another round of verbal sparring, this time over a candidate's comments about a woman's weight — an exchange that reflects poorly on the KMT's image and has crowded out discussion of municipal policy.

• During a visit to the Legislative Yuan, Kuomintang New Taipei mayoral candidate Li Shih-chuan said that legislator Chen Yu-chen "still hasn't slimmed down," and went on to mention that he himself had lost 5 kilograms.
• Democratic Progressive Party city councillor Tai Wei-shan criticised him for making jokes about a woman's figure, saying that what residents want is a record of accomplishments in public works, not a diet diary.
• Tai Wei-shan said the issues New Taipei should really be discussing are transport, childcare and long-term care, and urban renewal of ageing housing, questioning whether Li Shih-chuan is familiar with municipal affairs.
• Li Shih-chuan's campaign office hit back, saying the remark was an expression of concern between two old friends of many years, that neither party took issue with it, and that the DPP was rushing to smear him.

Outlook: The campaign will only grow more heated, with both sides set to continue trading attacks in the near term, and municipal policy issues likely to remain out of the spotlight.