Taiwan's 2026 local elections are heating up, with the opposition Taiwan People's Party (TPP) dodging questions about 2028 and the ruling DPP mounting a strong push for Taipei — a mixed picture for the KMT-TPP alliance.

• Chen Pei-chi, wife of jailed TPP founder Ko Wen-je, said the KMT will have to win 2028 on its own since Ko can't hold office, and she doesn't know if TPP chairman Huang Kuo-chang wants to run.
• Huang brushed it off, saying 2028 talk is premature and the focus is getting TPP candidates into local councils this year.
• DPP Taipei mayoral candidate Puma Shen is drawing big night-market crowds, and his team claims the gap with incumbent KMT mayor Chiang Wan-an is down to single digits.
• President Lai Ching-te is personally running the DPP campaign, meeting Shen weekly and taking a hands-on role in Miaoli and Yunlin races.
• Cross-strait friction is spilling into the campaign: Beijing's new exit-ban rules are spooking Chinese tech workers abroad, and Taipei's city council froze funding for the Shanghai "Twin Cities Forum" over stalled agreements.

Outlook: Expect the 2028 question to keep dogging the TPP while the DPP tests whether Shen's surge is real or a repeat of last year's failed recall wave.