The Kuomintang and the Democratic Progressive Party staged rival events in Kaohsiung on September 19, where the DPP's Lai Jui-lung and Puma Shen challenged the KMT's Ko Chih-en and Chiang Wan-an to a "two-city debate." Ko, the KMT's Kaohsiung mayoral candidate, held her first major rally in Fengshan with Taipei Mayor Chiang and New Taipei mayoral candidate Lee Szu-chuan, while Shen, the DPP's Taipei mayoral candidate, came south to join Lai, the party's Kaohsiung candidate. Police estimated that about 30,000 people gathered along Yingxiong Road and around Glory Pier for the DPP pair, CNA reported.
What did the DPP propose? Lai said he was encouraging Chiang and Ko to step out of their echo chamber and focus on city governance, and formally issued the challenge so that a debate could centre on the future of Kaohsiung and Taipei. Shen said he could debate at any time, including immediately if Chiang came over by car. Lai added that he and Shen were due back in Taipei that evening for a party anniversary event, but would stay to debate if Chiang and Ko, who were heading to a night market, were willing, CNA reported. Lai, in remarks reported by PTS, said that until a six-city debate could be arranged, Taipei and Kaohsiung could at least debate first.
What was said at the KMT rally? Organisers said 30,000 people attended. Ko told supporters that the DPP speaks of passing city government from one runner to the next, but that the baton should go to the strongest runner, not necessarily to the DPP. She said her opponent calls himself a "tornado," which in meteorological terms arrives fiercely, leaves quickly and leaves only destruction behind. Chiang said a city cannot be governed on slogans alone, and Lee asked voters to give Ko four years to build Kaohsiung, CNA reported. Wang Jin-pyng, the former legislative speaker who chairs Ko's campaign headquarters, said elections must not tear society apart.
