With the race for Taipei mayor heating up, Democratic Progressive Party candidate Puma Shen has begun a visit to Japan, drawing attention by wearing a bulletproof vest throughout the trip — a sign that the personal security pressure created by China's wanted notice has become part of the backdrop to the campaign.

• Shen said he wears a bulletproof vest whenever he travels abroad, as he did on his visit to the United States, because he is wanted by China and has a responsibility to voters.
• The trip to Japan has three main goals: setting up a support association, parliamentary diplomacy and city diplomacy. The names of those he will meet are not being disclosed for now, out of respect for the Japanese side's wishes.
• He tried out a Japanese "sports station" for himself and interviewed Taiwanese and Japanese runners, gathering ideas for a Taipei policy of the same name.
• He criticised Chiang Wan-an's remark that "all I feel is the New Tide faction everywhere" as labelling that stirs up antagonism, and noted that Chiang has repeatedly declined radio interviews.
• A video of Shen's interview with Wang Wei-chung has climbed to 810,000 views, far above the roughly 220,000 for Chiang Wan-an's 2022 interview — described in the media as a rising "Shen current".

Outlook: Chiang Wan-an is still seen as the favourite, but Shen's momentum and the back-and-forth over his rival's silence are expected to be the main battleground in the year-end Taipei mayoral race.