Hualien County Council speaker Chang Chun has entered the race for county magistrate with support from both blue and green camps, a challenge to the party machine that has run the county for years.

• Chang registered his candidacy backed by 13 sitting county councillors, a leading figure from the Fu Kun-chi recall campaign, and former officials from both the KMT and DPP.
• His pitch: Hualien has money — a yearly budget above NT$40 billion plus a NT$40 billion regional development fund — but no jobs, no returning young people, and no better daily life to show for it.
• Supporters blame more than a decade of bad governance, not just typhoons and earthquakes, for the county's shrinking population and struggling businesses.
• Chang says he will build a cross-party alliance and run on three themes: the economy, families, and safety, with a more open and transparent county government.
• Allies also want an end to politics that makes residents and shop owners afraid to speak their minds.

Outlook: Chang is betting a blue-green coalition can break the county's entrenched local power structure, and green heavyweights are expected to show their hand as the campaign heats up.