As the race for Taipei mayor heats up, a student's junior high school graduation certificate has become the fuse for exchanges of fire between the Blue and Green camps — an unnecessary headache for Puma Shen.

• While Shen was canvassing at Binjiang Market, a high school girl produced her graduation certificate, crossed out the signature of Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao, and asked Shen to sign over it: "Your mayor, Puma Shen."
• Shen responded that this was simply a story between the student and himself, that no disrespect toward Ann Kao was intended, and that if people want to argue they should argue about city governance rather than attack a student.
• Pan Chih-hui, principal of the student's alma mater Peiying Junior High School, publicly voiced displeasure, arguing that society should not make political sacrifices of education and of a 15-year-old child.
• The uproar comes at a sensitive moment: the 2026 local elections are only three months away, Taipei is a focal battleground, and the Blue camp has just formally nominated six incumbent heads of local government, including Chiang Wan-an, to seek re-election.
• Shen has also faced other background noise recently, including absences of party heavyweights from his rallies and Ko Wen-je's criticism that he is "too weak." He hit back by noting that Ko himself was written off in his day yet went on to win.

Outlook: With the campaign entering its final hundred days, incidents this small will only be amplified more often, and the war of words over the Taipei mayoralty is expected to keep escalating.