Kuomintang New Taipei mayoral candidate Lee Shih-chuan has declared he will replicate the winning formula of 2022 by campaigning jointly with the mayors of Taipei, Taoyuan and Keelung — a boost for the party's prospects in the year-end elections.

• Lee said he would join forces with Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an, Taoyuan Mayor Chang San-cheng and Keelung Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang to fight this election.
• He described Keelung, Taipei, New Taipei and Taoyuan as a single living area with a combined population approaching 10 million, and put the emphasis on rail construction and transport integration.
• He cited the NT$1,280 monthly pass he previously promoted, and the later TPASS commuter monthly pass, as examples of what cross-municipal cooperation can achieve.
• Grassroots mobilisation is already under way: more than 20 of the city's 29 districts have set up spontaneous support groups, and religious support associations are also being formed.
• He said he had spent five months touring all 29 districts and had written residents' views into his platform, adding that he would begin governing according to those needs the day after being elected.

Outlook: With just over 100 days to go before the year-end vote, the alliance between the KMT's Taipei and New Taipei camps will become more pronounced; attention now turns to how the DPP responds to this regional joint-defence strategy.