The race for New Taipei mayor is heating up, and Kuomintang candidate Li Si-chuan is targeting roughly 670,000 Hakka votes with a package of subsidies and cultural policies — good news for Hakka community groups and Hakka-language teachers.

• Subsidies for Hakka community groups will be raised to a maximum of NT$100,000 per class.
• Hourly pay for Hakka-language teachers will be increased across the board, from primary school through senior high and vocational school, to encourage more people to take up Hakka-language teaching.
• On infrastructure, he would continue Hou Yu-ih's "Hakka Hall" policy, with a target of 15 halls in 12 years, and transform Hakka cultural parks into industry centres that also serve a tourism function.
• Festivals such as the Yimin Festival and Tian Chuan Day are to be expanded and held on a district-by-district basis, with the goal of "a Hakka event in every district."
• All municipal departments are also to establish barrier-free Hakka-language environments.

Outlook: The Hakka vote is one of the keys to victory in New Taipei, and the opposing camp is expected to roll out similar ethnic-community pledges of its own before long.