New Power Party chair Claire Wang opened a joint campaign headquarters in Zhubei, sharply criticising poor governance in Hsinchu County and Zhubei City — bad news for incumbent county magistrate Yang Wen-ke, and an opening for small local watchdog parties.

• Zhubei's population is growing fast and its industrial conditions are strong, but public infrastructure, traffic congestion and educational resources have failed to keep pace.
• The sinkhole incident and the Fengcai 520 corruption controversy remain unresolved, the construction work is unfinished, and several people have been indicted and found guilty at first instance.
• Magistrate Yang Wen-ke was criticised for pouring resources into international exchanges, with his performance reports described as "a pack of lies" while county governance has not improved.
• Wang endorsed candidates including Chang Yu-tzu, Li Ya-fen, Hung Jui-chin and Hsu Yu-lun for seats on the county council and township representative assemblies to strengthen oversight.
• On cooperation between the KMT and the TPP, she called on each party to retain its own identity and to explain clearly to voters the value and principles behind the alliance, rather than simply dividing up votes.

Outlook: In this year's year-end local elections, Zhubei's infrastructure and corruption controversies could become the main battleground for challengers to the incumbent administration.