The race for New Taipei City mayor is heating up, with the two leading candidates unveiling policy proposals on the same day — good news for older residents, disadvantaged families and commuters alike.

• Democratic Progressive Party candidate Su Chiao-hui announced increased denture subsidies, with a maximum of NT$120,000 for low-income households and NT$80,000 for lower-middle-income households.
• The figures were suggested on the spot by Minister without Portfolio Chen Shih-chung, a dentist by training, and Su responded that she would "follow the instruction."
• Su also called for waiving partial co-payments for outpatient and inpatient care for children aged 0 to 6, extending free fluoride treatment subsidies to age 12, and promoting home dental services and a "denture ID card."
• Kuomintang candidate Lee Si-chuan focused on infrastructure, stressing that Keelung, Taipei, New Taipei and Taoyuan form a shared living area of nearly ten million people, and said he would work with the mayors of Taipei, Taoyuan and Keelung to accelerate rail projects such as the MRT.
• In a single day, Lee travelled from a Buddhist ceremony in Zhonghe to a religious groups' support association in Tamsui, playing up his grassroots and religious-community connections.

Outlook: The Blue and Green camps have each settled on a main theme — expanded social welfare and cross-municipal infrastructure — and the policy contest is expected to keep intensifying.