Image source, Facebook/Li Sichuan/Su Qiaohui
Taiwan's "nine-in-one" local elections will be held on November 28. As the most populous municipality in Taiwan, New Taipei City is regarded as the "most critical battlefield" that will determine the overall victory or defeat of the blue and green, and may affect the 2028 presidential election.
New Taipei City has long been regarded as a stronghold of the blue camp, and the Kuomintang has been in power for more than 20 consecutive years since 2005. This time, the Democratic Progressive Party sent Su Zhenchang's daughter and current legislator Su Qiaohui to face Li Sichuan, a veteran of the Kuomintang and known as the "professional deputy mayor."
In the past few months, polls for the New Taipei City election had been in five or five waves. However, in the New Taipei City mayoral election poll released by Taiwanese polling expert Dai Li'an on October 13, Su Qiaohui led Li Sichuan with 43.1%, 30.0%. The outside world is paying attention to whether it is affected by the "ocean current" spillover effect of the recent Taipei mayoral candidate Shen Boyang.
Cai Jiahong, a researcher at the National Chengchi University Election Research Center, told BBC Chinese: "For the DPP, if it can win New Taipei, it will be a great achievement. For the KMT, at least it must hold on to New Taipei."
BBC Chinese compiled the backgrounds of the two main candidates in New Taipei City.
Su Qiaohui—Leader of the “Second Generation of Government” Green Camp
Image source: Facebook/Su Qiaohui
Su Qiaohui, 50, is a "second-generation politician" and the eldest daughter of former Democratic Progressive Party Chairman and former Executive President Su Tseng-chang.
She was born in Pingtung County and grew up in New Taipei City. She graduated from the Law Department of National Taiwan University and became a litigation lawyer in 2002. In 2004, she served as the general liaison officer of Chen Shui-bian's campaign headquarters Lawyers Support Association. She went to the United States to study in 2006 and received dual master's degrees from the Boston University Law Department and the University of Pennsylvania Law Department. While studying in the United States, she was a classmate of Taipei mayoral candidate Shen Boyang.
After returning to Taiwan, Su Qiaohui served as the CEO of the "Beyond Foundation" founded by Su Zhenchang in 2009. In 2016, as a newcomer in the political arena, she ran for legislators in New Taipei City's "most swing constituency" and the 5th constituency. With a vote rate of 56.11%, she defeated Huang Zhixiong of the Kuomintang who had previously won the election for four consecutive years. She was re-elected in 2020 with a high vote.
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Compared with her father's majestic and decisive image, Su Qiaohui focuses on being gentle and close to the people, and works hard at the grassroots level. As a mother of two daughters, she started running a parent-child podcast "Otter Mother's Qiaoqiaohua" in 2020 to tell stories and teach Taiwanese to children.
Before "Ocean Current" set off a wave of public opinion, Su Qiaohui once played the role of the leader of the green camp in this nine-in-one election.
On September 5, she held a campaign headquarters inauguration meeting in Banqiao, New Taipei, becoming the first local chief candidate in Taiwan to establish a campaign headquarters. President Lai Ching-te, former President Tsai Ing-wen and others attended the event.
Su Qiaohui said at the campaign event that she was one of the first candidates to start preparing for the election. She started visiting voters in mid-2024, 800 days before the election. No one was optimistic at the time, but by the polls 60 days before the election, she was leading.
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The last Democratic Progressive Party candidate who won the election in New Taipei City was Su Qiaohui’s father, Su Zhenchang. Su Qiaohui once said that she had been helping her father in elections since she was 5 years old, and she was deeply involved in public affairs. Opponents criticize her status as a "second-generation politician", but she claims that she is not a second-generation politician under the authoritarianism of the party-state, but a second-generation democratic politician.
Su Qiaohui's biggest controversy recently is the People's Party's accusation that her sister Su Qiaochun's related team received government subsidies and investments when Su Zhenchang was the executive president. They were questioned for ignoring the interests and avoiding them, causing political controversy and offense. Su Qiaohui called it a political smear, saying that her sister shined through her professionalism. In response, the People's Party reported to the Taipei District Prosecutor's Office and requested the prosecutors to investigate.
Since entering politics in 2016, Su Qiaohui has focused on securing funds to promote the construction of local transportation, education and social welfare, including the opening of the MRT Sanying Line and Fengming Station. The Kuomintang questioned her low level of participation in these constructions and her taking credit from local governments.
On cross-strait issues, the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council has not specifically commented on Su Qiaohui. However, in 2021, Beijing included her father Su Zhenchang on the list of "Taiwan independence die-hards" and imposed sanctions, banning him and his family from entering mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao, which also affected Su Qiaohui. She said at the time: "The stronger China's suppression becomes, the stronger our love for Taiwan will become."
Li Sichuan - the most trusted deputy of the Kuomintang boss
image copyrightFacebook/李思川
This year, the 68-year-old "Uncle Sichuan" Li Sichuan is running for the election for the first time. He was not well-known before, but in fact he has long been the most trusted deputy of the KMT boss.
He is considered within the blue camp to have strong execution ability but no political ambition. In the past 15 years, he has served as the deputy mayor of the three major municipalities of New Taipei City, Kaohsiung City and Taipei City. His bosses include Ma Ying-jeou, Zhu Lilun, Han Guoyu and Jiang Wanan, all heavyweights of the Kuomintang. He is good at interpersonal communication and coordination, and is often an important player in mitigating disputes within the party.
When he served as the deputy mayor of Taipei City in 2022, Li Sichuan reiterated in an exclusive interview with "Tianxia Magazine" that he was not interested in elections and was unwilling to destroy the friendship between people because of elections. "What are you fighting for? Even if I become the mayor for you, what's the good of being scolded every day?" The report quoted a Kuomintang representative who analyzed that Li Sichuan was not without political ambitions, but was unwilling to compete openly or fight uncertain battles.
This year, Li Sichuan officially changed from "carrying a sedan" to "sitting in a sedan" to run for the mayor of New Taipei City. He said that after last year's general recall vote, he decided to personally stand up and challenge the DPP government.
Li Sichuan flaunts a hard-working image. He is an engineering expert and a technocrat. He has been promoted from a grassroots civil servant to the position of vice president of the Executive Yuan.
He was born in the fishing village of Xiaoliuqiu, Pingtung County. He graduated from the Electrical Engineering Department of Taipei Industrial College in 1979. After retiring from military service, he entered the Taipei City Engineering Bureau. In 2007, he became the director of the Taipei County Government (reorganized into New Taipei City in 2010) Engineering Bureau. In 2009, he was promoted to the deputy mayor of Taipei County. Famous buildings such as the Taipei Municipal Building, Taipei Arena, Maokong Cable Car, and New Taipei Circular Line all have traces of his handling.
After 2010, under the promotion of Zhu Lilun, the former chairman of the Kuomintang, Li Sichuan's career rose rapidly, and his tentacles extended to the central government and the Kuomintang party system. He successively served as the secretary-general of the Kuomintang and the vice president of the Executive Yuan.
In 2018, Li Sichuan was invited by the then mayor of Kaohsiung, Han Kuo-yu, to serve as the city's deputy mayor. In June 2020, he was dismissed due to the passage of Han Kuo-yu's recall. In 2022, he was appointed as deputy mayor by Taipei Mayor Chiang Wanan, until he resigned at the end of February this year to join the election campaign.
This election may affect whether the Blue and White strategy can continue in 2028. People's Party Chairman Huang Guochang once stated that he would participate in the New Taipei City battle. Later, after the Blue and White parties announced the polls, he gave courtesy to Li Sichuan to unite the opposition forces.
However, the multiplier effect of blue and white seems to be limited. The Taipei Municipal People's Association report pointed out that a New Taipei poll last December showed that the support rate for blue and white candidates was about 15% higher than that of green camp supporters. Now the blue and green polls are showing five to five waves, showing that the marginal benefits of blue and white candidates are diminishing.
Even though New Taipei is generally considered to be a county and city where "blue is greater than green", as a traditional civil servant with no electoral experience, he may also face a tough battle against Su Qiaohui, who has been running local businesses for many years. Li Sichuan's victory will depend on whether current mayor Hou Youyi's high level of satisfaction can be transferred to him.
In the latest 2026 county and city chief satisfaction survey released by "Tianxia Magazine", Hou Youyi ranked first among the six cities. However, even if the majority of the public, including pan-green or centrist voters, support Hou Youyi's municipal performance, it is still unknown how many of Hou Youyi's votes Li Sichuan can take after returning to the blue-green basic battle before the election.
After Li Sichuan announced his candidacy, it was revealed that his younger brother Li Cifu was suspected of intimidating environmental workers and extorting NT$5.76 million, forcing them to quit and plunging the outlying island of Xiaoliuqiu into a garbage crisis. Li Cifu has been sentenced to three years and six months by the District Attorney's Office. In this regard, Li Sichuan admitted that this happened and said that his younger brother must be responsible for it himself.
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