KMT chair Cheng Li-wun told Taiwan's business leaders she is fully confident the party will retake the presidency in 2028, a bullish sign for the opposition and a warning shot to the ruling DPP ahead of this year's local elections.

• Cheng says the hard part is not beating the DPP but uniting the KMT, which has a long history of infighting even under popular leaders like Lee Teng-hui and Ma Ying-jeou.
• She promised new party rules to end backroom deals and said members need time to believe "the chair is playing for real."
• Taiwan expert Yoshiyuki Ogasawara sees no big wave in the local races yet; the KMT should hold most cities and counties, with New Taipei the key battleground as the DPP's Su Chiao-hui closes the gap on Li Szu-chuan.
• In Taipei, DPP candidate Puma Shen is drawing big crowds, but critics say his "Shen wave" lacks the core message of the 2018 Han Kuo-yu surge.
• Taipei mayor Chiang Wan-an is pressing the Mainland Affairs Council to explain why it blocked a senior Shanghai official from visiting to plan this year's Taipei-Shanghai forum.

Outlook: The November local elections will be the first real test of whether Cheng can turn her confidence into a unified KMT, with New Taipei the race to watch.