The stellar performance of Taiwan's athletes in recent international events has revived an enthusiasm for sports around the island, and KMT candidates are quick to capitalize on it. Hau Lung-bin and Eric Chu, the mayoral hopefuls for Taipei and Xin Bei City respectively, announced this week that the two cities will seek to co-host the 2019 Asian Games, as long as they both win in the year end elections.

Chinese Taipei athletes Hsieh Cheng-kang, Huang Hao-yun, and Chien Wei-juan recently expressed their support for Taipei City and Xin Bei City's joint 2019 Asian Games bid at a campaign event for the KMT's Taipei City and Xin Bei City mayor candidates.

Under Hau Lung-bin and Eric Chu's "Greater Taipei Golden Twin Cities" plan, Taipei City and Xin Bei City will be spend 31 billion NT on 40 athletic venues and an Asian Games Village for athletes. There are currently six nations vying for the 2019 hosting rights.

In stark contrast to the KMT's plans for bringing the two cities closer together, the DPP's candidates have gone their separate ways and want not only a clear division between the two cities, but also the two cities' MRT systems.

The DPP's Xin Bei City mayor candidate, Tsai Ing-wen, said that she wants to increase the number of competitive events, and thanked her supporters for donating 10 million NT to her campaign.

Likening her supporters to stockholders, Tsai said that she would meet the needs of her constituents by making the most out of limited resources.