As Taiwan's local elections heat up, the Democratic Progressive Party's two candidates for mayor in the greater Taipei area are playing the "legal professional" card, using it to draw a contrast with the opposing camp.

• Puma Shen (Taipei City) and Su Chiao-hui (New Taipei City) have jointly formed a lawyers' support group, making legal expertise a central theme of their campaigns.
• Shen said legal professionals are an important force holding up the country, but he also named Taiwan People's Party chairman Huang Kuo-chang and Kuomintang legislators Weng Hsiao-ling and Fu Kun-chi as fellow legal professionals, implying that their positions differ.
• DPP Yilan County magistrate candidate Lin Kuo-chang and Taoyuan mayoral candidate Huang Shih-chieh, both lawyers, also appeared in support, forming a legal-professional alliance across northern Taiwan.
• Su Chiao-hui linked the image of lawyers to Taiwan's democratisation and same-sex marriage legislation, stressing the tradition of lawyers stepping forward at critical moments.

Outlook: The local election campaign will keep heating up, and the contest between the KMT, DPP and TPP over "who is more qualified to represent the legal profession" is likely to continue.