DPP nominates Shen Bo-yang to challenge Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an

2026-05-16

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DPP nominates Shen Bo-yang to challenge Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an — Aerial view of Taipei City Source · Image rights

The DPP's Central Executive Committee formally nominated legislator Shen Bo-yang on May 13 to contest the 2026 Taipei mayoral race against incumbent Chiang Wan-an. President Lai Ching-te presided over the nomination ceremony, signaling top-level party commitment to a race where the DPP has historically been the underdog.

What Happened

DPP Central Executive Committee approved Puma Shen's nomination on May 13
President Lai Ching-te hosted the ceremony and fastened Shen's campaign sash
DPP Secretary-General Hsu Kuo-yung said he would serve as overall campaign supervisor
Shen said the DPP has always been the underdog in Taipei with no winning formula, and will focus on listening to residents.

Green-Leaning Coverage

Green outlets framed the nomination as a momentum surge, using phrases like "soaring popularity" for Shen
Veteran DPP firebrand Wang Shih-chien rallied the crowd with battle-cry rhetoric — "break through and slay Chiang, victory is in sight"
Shen proposed replacing the long-running Taipei-Shanghai "Twin Cities Forum" with an "Infinite Cities Forum" open to democracies beyond China — a reframe that took a jab at Mayor Chiang Wan-an

Neutral Coverage

Sources cited analyst Huang Yang-ming warning that Shen's "lying-flat tactic" is designed to suppress Blue-camp voter turnout rather than
Neutral media reported a Blue-camp councilor who witnessed Shen's crowd appeal at a temple procession and warned "Chiang could be in trouble"

Blue-Leaning Coverage

Blue-camp media framed Shen Po-yang as a political novice, using the cutting line "he's never even been a neighborhood chief"
Hsu Chiao-hsin sarcastically "welcomed" Shen's candidacy: in Taiwanese political culture, openly welcoming your opponent is a way of saying you're not afraid of them
UDN emphasized that Lai Ching-te's faction is directly steering Shen's campaign team, implying the race is less about Taipei and more about Lai consolidating his grip on the party

Key Terms

Shen Bo-yang: DPP at-large legislator specializing in Chinese influence operations and information warfare. Nominated in May 2026 to challenge Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an. Co-founder of NGOs Kuma Academy (黑熊學院) and Doublethink Lab (雙思實驗室). Blacklisted by Beijing as a hardline separatist and subject to PRC sanctions over his founding of Kuma Academy. In October 2025 China launched a formal criminal investigation against Shen.
Twin Cities Forum: An annual cross-strait dialogue between Taipei and Shanghai, widely regarded as one of the very few official communication channels between Taiwan and China amid otherwise frozen relations. Shen proposed scrapping it in favor of a global "Infinite Cities Forum" open to democratic cities worldwide, arguing the current format delivers little tangible benefit.
Nine-in-One Elections: Taiwan's quadrennial local elections covering mayors, councilors, and other offices held simultaneously. Elections were consolidated into their current format in 2014, bundling nine categories of local offices — including city and county mayors, councillors, township chiefs, and village wardens — into a single polling day. The format was designed to reduce election fatigue and costs, and has since become the key mid-term verdict on whichever party holds the presidency, with results closely watched as a predictor of the next presidential race.