Taiwan's ruling DPP has formally launched a young slate in Zhubei City, a positive sign for the party's local organizing as the opposition blue-white alliance there struggles to hold together.

• Tseng Sheng-kai picked up his registration papers for the Zhubei mayoral race, flanked by DPP councillors and local representative candidates.
• He resigned his post at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University's design research center before filing, saying administrative neutrality demanded it.
• His pitch is governance by design — tying together traffic, schools, care services and public space in a fast-growing city rather than one-off projects.
• The DPP is running county chief, mayor, councillor and representative candidates as a single linked ticket under a "Zhubei consensus" theme.
• The rival KMT–TPP cooperation deal in Zhubei is close to falling apart, opening room for the green camp.

Outlook: Zhubei becomes a test of whether a unified DPP ticket can win a traditionally opposition-leaning seat if the blue-white pact collapses before year-end voting.