Chiang Wan-an Alleges Cognitive Warfare as Puma Shen Campaign Denies Persona Creation

As polling day for the Taipei mayoral race draws closer, the political temperature continues to rise, with the campaigns of the pan-Blue and pan-Green camps expanding their offensive and defensive battlegrounds from traditional evaluations of administrative performance into a psychological war of political rhetoric and image building. In response to recent public criticism from Kuomintang (KMT) Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an, who accused the Green camp of frequently launching cognitive warfare through various issues in an attempt to cause the current city government team to lose points while simultaneously crafting a warm, "good guy" persona for Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei mayoral candidate Shen Po-yang, Tsai Yi-kai, a spokesperson for Shen Po-yang's campaign office, quickly issued a strong response. Tsai emphasized that Shen has never deliberately cultivated a specific persona during the campaign, and that the warmth and interactions witnessed by the outside world are actually the most genuine and natural sides of him during his daily contacts with citizens. The clash between the two sides in the public arena once again highlights the highly tense political atmosphere behind this battle for the capital.

Looking back at the origin of this war of words, it stemmed from a media availability session where reporters asked about the Green camp continuously floating various political and livelihood issues during the election in an attempt to strike Chiang Wan-an's administration and cause him to lose points. At the same time, the media also mentioned external observations that the DPP camp appeared to be systematically shaping a considerate, warm "caring man" image for Shen Po-yang to narrow the distance with voters. Faced with such sharp questioning, Chiang chose to respond by deflecting the issue effortlessly, stating bluntly that the opposing camp is simply in charge of "cognitive warfare." He asserted that as the incumbent mayor, his most important and necessary task is to focus on running the city well and respond to citizens' expectations through substantive construction and administrative results. This remark not only attempted to pull the election focus back to municipal administration itself, but also directly defined the opposing camp's campaign strategy as political maneuvering.

Faced with Chiang's accusations that the Green camp launched cognitive warfare, Shen's camp clearly found it unacceptable and immediately launched a counterattack. Campaign spokesperson Tsai Yi-kai stated that Shen's presentation and performance in this Taipei mayoral campaign have completely avoided any deliberate packaging or cultivation of a political persona by a staff team. Tsai further explained that every interaction Shen has with grassroots citizens and voters during his daily schedule—including his words, actions, and attitude—represents his most authentic and natural self behind closed doors, without any false rehearsals. Through this statement, the spokesperson attempted to dispel external doubts regarding the packaging of the Green candidate's image while conversely highlighting Shen's approachable and down-to-earth traits, aiming to establish a sincere and reliable candidate image in the hearts of voters.

This latest war of words demonstrates that the Taipei mayoral campaign has entered a critical stage dominated by psychological warfare and image-shaping. The Blue camp has adopted a defensive-yet-offensive strategy of "conserving energy while focusing on municipal administration," attempting to label all doubts and issues raised by the opponent as electoral maneuvers and cognitive warfare, thereby consolidating the legitimacy and steady image of the incumbent administration. In contrast, the Green camp is actively striving to break the Blue camp's traditional stronghold in Taipei by setting agendas and showcasing the candidate's traits—particularly by shaping an approachable, caring-man image to win the recognition and support of young and swing voters. Every round of offense and defense between the two sides in the public opinion battlefield directly influences voters' intentions.

As the election intensifies, similar clashes regarding the authenticity of candidates' images and political rhetoric are bound to emerge endlessly in the future. Chiang Wan-an's team attempts to use "doing a good job in municipal administration" to dilute the interference of political rhetoric, while Shen Po-yang's team emphasizes "authenticity and naturalness" to counter the opponent's accusations of cognitive warfare. This is not only a duel of personal styles between the two candidates, but also a high-difficulty contest in political communication and campaign pacing between their respective staff teams. As the core stage of Taiwan's politics, Taipei's voters now demand far more from candidates than simple party support. How to demonstrate true governance capability and sincerity amidst overwhelming political propaganda and image-shaping will be the decisive factor in the final outcome of this election.