Huang’s game of political survivalBy Liu Che-ting 劉哲廷The New Taipei City mayoral race should have been a matter of local politics. Instead, due to political coordination between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), along with maneuvering by TPP Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌), it has devolved into an absurd spectacle centered around one individual’s political survival. Such an absurd declaration is more than just strategic maneuvering — it exposes the loosening of party boundaries. Party identity, individual political survival and voter expectations have all become entangled in an unsolvable triangle. This election highlights a core dilemma in the nation’s local politics — the subtle, intertwined relationship between party boundaries, individual strategy and voters’ expectations.

Source: Taipei Times February 25, 2026 17:47 UTC