The Kuomintang put on a show of unity at the New Taipei City Council, backing Lee Shih-chuan to succeed as New Taipei mayor and Wu Tsung-hsien to run for Yilan county magistrate — good news for the party's prospects in the year-end elections.

• In his final general interpellation session as mayor, Hou Yu-ih publicly endorsed Lee Shih-chuan, calling him "capable and experienced," as his successor.
• KMT councillors chanted slogans such as "another eight years" and "keep the Chuan flowing" in the chamber to drum up support for Lee.
• Wu Tsung-hsien, former head of New Taipei's Department of Legal Affairs, returned to the council to canvass for votes and proposed upgrading the Keelung–Taipei–New Taipei–Taoyuan platform into a "Taipei–New Taipei–Keelung–Taoyuan Plus One" arrangement.
• The idea is to bring Yilan into the northern Taiwan living sphere, deepening cooperation on transport, industry, tourism and healthcare.
• Hou Yu-ih said that if rail projects are built in the future, New Taipei and Yilan could be linked together.

Outlook: The KMT has now tied New Taipei and Yilan together as a single theme for its year-end campaign; the next question is when Lee Shih-chuan will formally announce his campaign team.