TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Puma Shen (沈伯洋), the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP, 民進黨) candidate for Taipei mayor, unveiled his "AI Citizens' Hammer" (AI市民之槌) initiative Wednesday (May 20) to identify blind spots in Mayor Chiang Wan-an's (蔣萬安) administration. The initiative will analyze data from the city's 1999 hotline. Shen met with the DPP's Taipei City Council caucus, accompanied by DPP legislators Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶).
Kuomintang (KMT, 國民黨) Taipei City Councilor Yu Shu-hui (游淑慧) criticized the initiative, calling it the "Hammer of Hypocrisy." Shen responded by clarifying what he described as Yu's misunderstanding about the database. He emphasized the importance of listening to citizens' voices and thanked the councilors for bringing local perspectives.
The initiative represents Shen's strategy to challenge Chiang on municipal governance ahead of the 2026 Taipei mayoral election. Shen also addressed Chiang's recent inspection of negative-pressure smoking rooms with Deputy Mayor Lee Shu-chuan (李四川). He suggested renaming the smoke-free city policy to "smoke-hazard-free" (無菸害) to prevent secondhand smoke exposure, emphasizing the importance of strategic smoking room locations and incentives.
The DPP's nomination of Shen for Taipei's mayoral race has sparked discussion in political and media circles. Media figure Hsieh Han-ping (謝寒冰) and KMT councilor candidate Lai Yi-jen (賴苡任) have pledged to distribute chicken cutlets if certain conditions are met. Shen jokingly remarked that chicken cutlets bring happiness and claimed his candidacy has already made citizens feel happier. ◼