KMT Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an has become the new centre of the public opinion storm — bad news for his road to the 2028 presidential race.

• The controversy over Weng Hsiao-ling's cuts to the Presidential Office's budget for Mid-Autumn Festival gift boxes from sheltered workshops had barely subsided before the focus shifted straight to Chiang Wan-an.
• Online searches about Chiang Wan-an are not about his record running the city, but about his son's nationality, green card, leave of absence from school, and international exchange student status.
• His volume of social media discussion is higher than Puma Shen's, but the negative share exceeds 70 percent, compared with only 40 percent for Shen.
• The exchange student controversy has ignited young people's resentment over "privilege," a sense that some people are always standing at the front of the narrow gate.
• He was once the KMT's ace campaigner, the figure best able to attract young and swing voters; now candidates are afraid of being dragged down by association.

Outlook: His re-election as Taipei mayor may not necessarily be affected, but this wave of controversy has already weakened his image for the 2028 presidential campaign.