Taipei's mayoral campaign moves into its official phase this week, and the DPP challenger is pressing the incumbent on child protection failures — a fight that could define the race.

• Candidate registration for local elections opens tomorrow, and DPP candidate Puma Shen will register alongside his slate of city council candidates, with an unnamed high-profile figure joining him.
• Shen has challenged sitting mayor Chiang Wan-an to a debate on city government; Chiang has taken the invitation but has not agreed to it.
• Child abuse cases are becoming the sharpest issue, after a girl in Taipei went 240 days without placement and auditors found hundreds of delayed child welfare cases.
• Shen wants the city to admit where the system broke — too few placement spots, too few social workers, or the wrong standards — rather than defend its record.
• He says he would put his election subsidy into a Taipei think tank for long-term city and industry planning, rather than keep it in a personal account as Chiang did in 2022.

Outlook: Expect the child welfare scandal and the unanswered debate challenge to dominate the campaign's opening weeks.