The race for Taipei mayor has begun early, with the Kuomintang camp concentrating its fire on Democratic Progressive Party candidate Puma Shen — an approach that favours the blue camp and puts pressure on the green.

• Chiang Wan-an appeared in Chiayi to stump for a party candidate, and was stopped along the way by members of the public wanting photos and handshakes, in a show of strong momentum.
• Yin Wei, head of the Taipei City Research, Development and Evaluation Commission, switched from defence to offence, saying Shen had gone a week without answering the "seven questions on tainted oil".
• The seven questions focus on the Executive Yuan's handling of the tainted-oil affair, and on how many times Shen raised the matter in questioning as a legislator.
• Yin criticised Shen for "answering B when asked A", saying he was only trying to hold on to his legislative seat while managing to hit back quickly at criticism from Ko Wen-je.
• Shen's camp said the chair of his campaign's general affairs committee was "all Taipei residents" — a remark seized on as grounds for pressing the questions further.

Outlook: The tainted-oil case is set to remain the central line of attack and defence in the Taipei mayoral race, with the next thing to watch being whether Shen responds head-on.