President 
Lai Ching-te pledged central government support for Democratic Progressive Party candidate Chen Ying's healthcare and transport proposals as she opened her Taitung County magistrate campaign headquarters on Sunday evening. Lai, who also chairs the DPP, said the central government would pay in full for Chen's five major healthcare proposals and her transport plans, the Liberty Times reported. In remarks the paper covered separately, he thanked Kuomintang incumbent Rao Ching-ling for her eight years in office and urged Taitung residents to look past the blue-green divide to back Chen.
What did Lai promise? Taitung has "the best human warmth and the best environment," but transport, healthcare and industry still have much room for progress, Lai said in remarks carried by CNA, before setting out four pledges. He cited a denture subsidy for Indigenous elders, with the eligible age lowered from 65 to 55 and up to NT$40,000 available nationwide, as something Chen had fought for, and said the subsidy would be extended to every ethnic group if she wins. Hearing aids and smart wristbands that elders need would also be subsidised across the board. He further promised faster double-tracking of the South-Link Railway between Taitung and Chaozhou, full backing for Chen's healthcare platform, and a push to make sports and music new industries for Taitung.
Who else is backing Chen? Former president 
Tsai Ing-wen chairs the campaign committee, and former legislators Liu Chao-hao and Lai Kun-cheng, once political rivals, serve as its general secretary and honorary adviser, CNA reported. In a recorded video, Tsai said she had kept Taitung in mind throughout her eight years as president, cited the electrification of the South-Link Railway, and called Chen "the best candidate." Indigenous supporters attended in traditional dress.
What did Chen say? Chen, whom Lai credited with five terms as a legislator carrying Taitung's difficulties to the Legislative Yuan, said the race was not a contest between blue and green but a choice over whether Taitung moves forward or goes backward. She said she was clean and her family was not in business. "I have no baggage," she said, promising as magistrate to help residents make money and live more happily.
Figures referenced: Lai Ching-te, Tsai Ing-wen. — JudgeMarket.
