An unexpected figure has joined the race for Tainan mayor: 83-year-old Hsiao Lin-hung has paid an NT$1.2 million deposit out of his own pocket to enter the election, adding uncertainty to the year-end showdown between the blue and green camps.

• Hsiao Lin-hung registered as the candidate of the "Taiwan SoR Impossible Party" for the 2026 Tainan mayoral election, paying the NT$1.2 million deposit on September 1.
• During the 2024 legislative election he publicly declared a "target of 0 votes" and even asked voters to back his opponent, explaining that he had registered only to help his party qualify for party-list votes.
• In the end he took 38,000 votes in that election, not only recovering his deposit but coming close to the threshold for claiming a campaign subsidy worth more than NT$1 million.
• Besides the two major parties and Hsiao Lin-hung, a 38-year-old man surnamed Yeh has also declared his candidacy in the year-end Tainan mayoral race.
• Online discussion has been lively, with many comparing him to attention-grabbing figures of the past, while others remarked that "with money you really can do whatever you want."

Outlook: Whether this attention-grabbing figure can again pull in a high vote count, or even shift the distribution of votes between the blue and green camps, will be a key point to watch in the year-end Tainan election.