The race for Kaohsiung mayor has begun early, with the KMT and DPP candidates trading barbs at a distance and the campaign taking a negative turn.

• KMT candidate Ko Chih-en, wearing boxing gloves, struck a placard reading "New Tide faction," declaring that she would make the New Tide faction "ebb away." The jab was aimed squarely at DPP candidate Lai Jui-lung.
• Lai Jui-lung hit back, saying that attacking and smearing without offering any policy platform "lacks mayoral stature."
• Lai countered that Ko Chih-en had pushed the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures, costing Kaohsiung NT$20 billion, and had also cut a considerable amount of the city's budget.
• Lai said a mayor should be talking about attracting investment, transport, industry and a vision for the city, not engaging in a war of words.
• The DPP is betting heavily on Kaohsiung: Chen Chi-mai will serve as chair of the campaign headquarters, Tsai Ing-wen will also take up a senior role, and Lai Ching-te, Hsiao Bi-khim and Su Tseng-chang will appear at rallies in turn.

Outlook: Both sides see Kaohsiung as the bellwether city for the national electoral picture, so the fighting ahead will only intensify, and the pace of DPP heavyweights taking the stage will pick up.