Battle for Kaohsiung in the spotlight as election fever grips Taiwan ahead of crucial polls on Nov 24

Come Nov 24, Taiwan will hold once-in-four-years municipal elections in the first major test for President Tsai Ing-wen. The outcome will have repercussions on the island's presidential race in 2020. The Straits Times' Lee Seok Hwai reports on the pitched battles from the front lines of Taipei and Kaohsiung.

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Thousands of people took to the streets in Kaohsiung on Nov 17, 2018, in a show of support for mayoral candidate Chen Chi-mai of the Democratic Progressive Party. ST PHOTO: LEE SEOK HWAI
Thousands of people took to the streets in Kaohsiung on Nov 17, 2018, in a show of support for mayoral candidate Chen Chi-mai of the Democratic Progressive Party. ST PHOTO: LEE SEOK HWAI
Thousands of people took to the streets in Kaohsiung on Nov 17, 2018, in a show of support for mayoral candidate Chen Chi-mai of the Democratic Progressive Party. ST PHOTO: LEE SEOK HWAI
Thousands of people took to the streets in Kaohsiung on Nov 17, 2018, in a show of support for mayoral candidate Chen Chi-mai of the Democratic Progressive Party. ST PHOTO: LEE SEOK HWAI
Supporters at a rally by mayoral candidate Han Kuo-yu of the opposition Kuomintang in Kaohsiung on Nov 17, 2018. ST PHOTO: LEE SEOK HWAI
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KAOHSIUNG - For several hours on Saturday (Nov 17), a grassy patch of land in southern Taiwan was turned into a sea of blue and red by tens of thousands of supporters of the island's latest political star, Mr Han Kuo-yu.

Waving Taiwan's flag, the crowd blew horns and shouted "dong suan! dong suan! (elected, elected!)" as Mr Han, a 61-year-old former agriculture official from Taipei, urged them to vote him into Kaohsiung city hall.

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