Election, Taiwan Stocks, and Asian Games: Taiwan's Top 3 Hot Topics, Which Side Are You On?

Taiwanese public opinion is focused on three main threads: the Taipei mayoral election, the volatility of the Taiwan stock market, and the aftermath of the Asian Games. In terms of the election, entertainer Kevin Tsai attended the campaign rally for the DPP's Taipei mayoral candidate Shen Po-yang, triggering a large-scale boycott from Chinese netizens, leading some programs and partner brands to cut ties. KMT candidate Chiang Wan-an subsequently publicly invited Kevin Tsai to "observe and learn," to which Tsai replied, "I will gladly go when I receive a specific invitation," further fueling the incident. The election focus has also shifted from municipal affairs and food safety issues to "drug prevention" and ideological battles. The blue camp has dug up past statements by Shen Po-yang to question him, while Chiang Wan-an is campaigning on an anti-drug platform. Several recent polls show that the support gap between Chiang Wan-an and Shen Po-yang is only about 1.2 percentage points, falling within the margin of error, indicating a tight race. On the stock market front, the Taiwan Stock Exchange initially surged to 49,968 points, nearing 50,000 points, but then experienced significant fluctuations, with intraday swings exceeding 400-500 points. It closed at a relatively high level, supported by blue-chip stocks and buying in TSMC. TSMC's stock price hit a new high of NT$2,590 during the day before turning negative, but it remained the market's focus. Foreign and institutional investors continue to monitor trends in AI servers, memory optimization, and the shift in capital expenditure towards AI computing power by 2028. Morgan Stanley's latest report raised the target prices for TSMC and UMC to NT$3,088 and NT$188 respectively, boosting expectations for the semiconductor sector's future prospects.