Kuomintang chair Cheng Li-wun has labelled Puma Shen, the Democratic Progressive Party's candidate for Taipei mayor, a "Taiwan independence element." The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said this amounts to endorsing Chinese Communist Party interference in the election and is bad news for electoral freedom in Taiwan.

• After entertainer Kevin Tsai appeared at a Puma Shen campaign rally, he was singled out by Chinese state media, and Cheng Li-wun also took a jab at him, asking whether he was prepared to give up "the enormous interests in China."
• MAC Deputy Minister Liang Wen-chieh said the CCP uses threats to force people into supporting particular candidates, and that if Taiwan became like Hong Kong, Puma Shen — who is wanted by Beijing — would long since have been disqualified from running.
• Liang Wen-chieh said that by this logic "we might as well cancel elections altogether," and expressed hope that the public would see in this episode the value of freedom of choice.
• Separately, Chiang Wan-an has floated relocating Songshan Airport and redeveloping the 300 hectares of land as an AI park. The Executive Yuan responded that such a decision should not be rushed during an election campaign, and legislators from the outlying islands also voiced opposition.
• Chiang Wan-an acknowledged that this is the most pressure he has faced in a campaign, and denied that he is thinking about 2028.

Outlook: The Taipei race will keep heating up around two main themes — "resist China, protect Taiwan" and Songshan Airport — and the clashes between the central government and the Taipei city government are unlikely to end any time soon.