The Taichung mayoral race is officially heating up, with the Blue and Green camps making their moves on the same day — one courting popularity, the other pushing policy.

• Democratic Progressive Party candidate Ho Hsin-chun invited former President Tsai Ing-wen to unveil her campaign headquarters, which was established on the 12th, in a strong show of support.
• Tsai Ing-wen will serve as honorary chair of the campaign headquarters, with Legislative Yuan Deputy Speaker Tsai Chi-chang heading it as chairman, and publicly declared that Ho must win.
• Tsai Ing-wen stressed that Ho Hsin-chun combines the international outlook gained from studying in the United Kingdom with 15 years of local experience, making her the best choice for Taichung residents.
• Kuomintang candidate Chiang Chi-chen focused the same day on new immigrant policy, targeting the vote bank of roughly 130,000 new immigrants and their children in Taichung.
• Chiang Chi-chen's four policy proposals include establishing an international cooperation and development committee, an international navigator programme for second-generation new immigrants, interest subsidies for micro-business start-up loans, and upgraded mother-tongue, legal and psychological counselling services.

Outlook: As campaign headquarters open one after another, the Taichung race will shift from a contest of rally turnout to a head-on clash of policy and organisational mobilisation.