With the Taipei mayoral race heating up, Democratic Progressive Party candidate Puma Shen has signed an agreement to take part in a televised debate, putting the ball in the court of incumbent Mayor Chiang Wan-an, who has yet to respond directly.

• Shen signed a letter of intent for a Taipei mayoral television debate organised by media outlets, with no restrictions on the topics.
• He named reform of the child abuse system as the most urgent issue, followed by the transport and public health problems most frequently raised on the city's citizen hotline.
• Chiang Wan-an also accepted the letter of intent, but said only that he explains city affairs every day, without clearly agreeing to a debate.
• Shen countered that if Chiang is focused on city affairs every day, that means he has more time to debate, and the timing is right.
• On election subsidy funds, Shen said he would use them to build a think tank for Taipei, and proposed setting up an AI research institute at the Beitou Shilin Science Park.

Outlook: Attention now turns to whether Chiang Wan-an will accept the debate invitation, with the use of election subsidy funds also set to become a point of contention between the two sides.