DPP legislator Su Chiao-hui has formally registered to run for mayor of New Taipei, campaigning on the message that the city must shed its subordinate status to Taipei — a mobilising opening move for the green camp's electoral prospects in northern Taiwan.

• Su registered alongside more than 30 city council candidates, running a "New Taipei Team" collective campaign.
• Her platform centres on childcare and helping young people start families: no co-payments for children aged 0 to 6, free vaccinations, marriage-and-childrearing housing, and night-time drop-in childcare.
• For older residents, she is offering denture subsidies, top-ups to senior citizen cards, and additional allowances for caregivers.
• On industry, she plans to establish technology and medical parks, set up an urban renewal bureau, and boost local areas through coastal and mountain-town tourism programmes.
• Her core appeal is that New Taipei should no longer be a satellite city of Taipei, but become a city of its own with "stars shining bright" across it.

Outlook: With the campaign formally under way, attention now turns to how the two sides will clash over childcare, urban renewal and local infrastructure once the blue camp settles on its candidate.