The race for Taipei mayor has officially begun, with both the Kuomintang and the Democratic Progressive Party going in with all guns blazing on the first day of registration — an increasingly heated contest for the city's voters to watch.

• Kuomintang city councillor candidate Li Ming-hsuan completed her registration accompanied by Sean Lien, and criticised DPP mayoral candidate Puma Shen for speaking in a way people cannot understand.
• Sean Lien warned that if Shen enters city hall, Taipei will turn into a "Bluebird playground" where people are labelled pro-China and subjected to witch hunts at the slightest provocation.
• The exchange trip to the United States by Chiang Wan-an's eldest son has stirred controversy, with the KMT camp calling for the campaign to return to the candidates themselves, while Shen stressed that the problem lies in the failure to address conflict-of-interest recusal up front.
• Blue-white cooperation collapsed in Zhubei, and Huang Kuo-chang made a veiled jab about people not keeping their word, but Li Ming-hsuan said cooperation in the Songshan-Xinyi district was going smoothly and that this was merely an isolated case.
• On the eve of the September 3 Armed Forces Day, the Kuomintang questioned why the Lai administration has not budgeted in full for the volunteer service allowance, yet has calculated down to the last detail the compensation owed by service members who leave the military early.

Outlook: With only 87 days to go until the vote, the fight for Taipei mayor and whether the blue and white camps can align will be the two big variables in the campaign ahead.