The race for Taipei mayor is heating up, with the Kuomintang and the Democratic Progressive Party trading moves in the Legislative Yuan and on radio programmes — a pre-election battle for visibility for both candidates.

• KMT legislator Hsu Chiao-hsin was chairing the Foreign and National Defense Committee today, yet donated NT$670 to Jaw Shaw-kong's programme to tell Puma Shen, who was appearing on the show, to return to the Legislature for the meeting.
• Shen responded that the committee convener was being "thoughtful and very gentle," and invited her to join his campaign team, stressing that his attendance and interpellation rates are both high and that he will not resign his legislative seat before the election.
• On the same day, China's Taiwan Affairs Office announced sanctions against VWAY, a company registered under the name of Shen's father, barring it from dealings with mainland Chinese businesses — a continuation of last year's measures against another of his companies.
• Jaw Shaw-kong gave Shen a score of 7 to 8 and praised him as quick on his feet, but stated clearly that he supports incumbent mayor Chiang Wan-an.
• The two camps have yet to agree on the number and dates of televised debates, with Chiang demanding that the other side send a representative empowered to make decisions.

Outlook: With only 45 days left until the November 28 vote, the fight over debate arrangements and the back-and-forth over Chinese pressure and the Taiwan independence label are expected to keep intensifying.