He Turned 60,000 Voter Comments Into a Virtual City—and Shook Taiwan's Election

Shen Boyang is polling 17 points ahead of Cheng Juanan, who admitted on TV that the situation is critical. Then, a typhoon hit, shutting down Taipei and cancelling Shen's events, finally giving the blue camp a chance to catch their breath. Who would have thought that Shen Boyang would still make such a big splash from home, launching his heart policy and attracting over 120,000 likes in less than 12 hours, with even a Japanese author sharing it from across the sea. Netizens are saying that Shen Boyang has elevated the election to an entirely different dimension. But the first person to come out and pour cold water on it was Shen Boyang himself. Today, let's talk about this island that has shocked everyone. What exactly is it, how did it come about, and what kind of unexpected stories lie behind it? Watch until the end of the program, and believe me, you'll have an aha moment, realizing this is the reason Shen Boyang was able to stir up such a massive tidal wave. First, let's take a look at this poll that has the blue camp in an uproar. This Tuesday, the Ximing Cross-Strait Research Association released the latest Taipei mayoral poll, Shen Boyang at 50.3% and Chiang Wanan at 33.3%. In just one month, Shen Boyang has gained nearly 10 percentage points, while Chiang Wanan has dropped more than 8 points. Looking at the question of whether they are suitable to be mayor, 56.6% think Shen Boyang is suitable, while 46.8% think Chiang Wanan is unsuitable, which is more than those who think he is suitable. Once these numbers came out, the Blue Camp's first reaction was disbelief. The association that conducted the poll has ties to UMC founder Robert Tsao. Who is Robert Tsao, anyway? He's the one who put up 600 million NT dollars to support the Kuma Academy. We've covered this in a previous episode, so for those who missed it, feel free to go back and watch. So, is a poll conducted by his association credible? KMT City Councilor Changshi Sukong said that the Taipei depicted in this poll feels a bit unfamiliar. It's not just the blue camp. Even DPP legislator Chuang Tuan Hung Sheng was stunned when he saw the numbers and asked, did you get that wrong? If this one doesn't count, let's look at the second one. The next day, Storm Media also released a poll. This one doesn't have a pro-green background. Puma Shen at 42.8%, Chang Wan An at 39%. Puma Shen is still in the lead. What's even more critical is the trend. In the same poll, back in June of this year, Chang Wan An was at 55.2%, while Puma Shen was only at 27.5%. Four months have passed, and the positions of the two have completely swapped. Chang Wan An's administrative approval rating has dropped all the way from 65.7% to 51.4%. Look, you could say one poll is just the green camp patting themselves on the back, but when two polls point in the same direction, that's no coincidence. So Chang Wan An is getting anxious. The night the poll came out, he went on Lawyer Shi Siwu's show, and the host opened by asking, were you very surprised when you saw this poll? Chang Wan An replied, I certainly expected something, but I didn't anticipate this result. He admitted that his team is very anxious, and his supporters are also very anxious, hoping that all supporters can feel how critical the situation is right now. He also said that this time he is facing the entire presidential office, the cabinet, and a party all against him alone, and his opponent is not just one Shen Po-yan, but two Shen Po-yan. What does that mean? Shen Po-yang himself was also confused, wondering if he meant different avatars of the mayor? KMT heavyweight Wang Jin-pyng said upon hearing the poll results, I can't imagine it. Logically, leading by 17 points, it should be time to pop the champagne, right? Shen Po-yang didn't. He said if people really voted based on these numbers, the turnout would have to approach 90%, which is unlikely in Taipei. The real gap isn't 17 points, it's within a slight margin of error. Right now, the odds of winning for both sides are a toss-up, meaning it's 50-50 and no one feels relaxed. He also reminded everyone that with 39 days left until the election, public opinion could flip at any moment. In Taipei, he's always the challenger. How Shen Po-yang was able to overtake Chiang Wan-an with such rapid momentum in such a short time and still have enough energy to stir up a current that spills over to the rest of the world. There are many reasons for this, which we mentioned in our previous two episodes. However, the heart island he just launched, how this island came to be, and the twists and hardships behind it is the most intuitive and convincing demonstration of Shen Po-yang's energy. What is this island? Simply put, Shen Po-yang turned all his political platforms into a 3D game map that you can freely explore online. 14 policy themes were transformed into 14 hexagonal islands, which, when pieced together, form the shape of Taipei City. The little houses on the islands represent 94 specific policies, covering areas like transportation, child care, sports, school lunches, and so on. If you want to see a specific item, just click on it. If you're too lazy to look for it, you can also just search by keyword. This design pays homage to a classic German board game called Catan, the kind where you piece together a map using hexagonal tiles, which many people around the world have played. Spokesperson Tsai Yi-kai put it quite realistically. If these policy proposals were written into a white paper, they'd easily run dozens or even hundreds of pages. Who would actually read that? So it's better to turn it into something that both adults and children would be willing to click on. And that's how this island came to be. There's also an Easter egg hidden on the island, a cute chibi-style character wearing round glasses with curly hair and an orange vest. This is Shen Po-yang himself. He walks from island to island, and every time he reaches one, he stands on a little wooden crate and waves. Keep this little wooden crate in mind, folks. There's a big story behind it later on. Once this little island was launched, everyone was shocked. The video Shen Po-yang posted on Threads got 870,000 views, 120,000 likes, and over 2,000 comments. Yayako Kondo, a Japanese parenting author, even shared it across the sea. You see, this ocean current didn't just spill over to the United States, it also spilled over to Japan. People in the comments section said that even kids are willing to watch this, which is really, truly incredible. Someone even said they've never seen any Taiwanese politician take a city so seriously. And another one said, If Shen Po-yang doesn't get elected, I will honestly despise Taipei residents for the rest of my life. It's not just fans. Veteran media personality Huang Wei-hang tried it out and exclaimed that it's truly impressive. He said that this website essentially answers a question in advance. If this candidate becomes mayor, how will various municipal issues be solved? What are the execution details, and how will the different departments collaborate? At this point, I believe you, my friends, can already feel the hard work put in by Shen Po-yang's team. We really have to give them a thumbs up, don't we? Leave a thumbs up in the comments. How did this little island come to be? What kind of rare story lies behind this? We need to go back and talk about that wooden crate Shen Po-yang was standing on on the island. This little wooden crate has a name. It's called a soapbox. The term soapbox comes from Hyde Park in London, England. Starting over a hundred years ago, in a corner of Hyde Park, anyone could bring a wooden crate that used to hold soap, stand on it, and give a speech to passers-by. They could talk about anything, even criticize the government. Later on, standing on a soapbox became synonymous with ordinary people making their voices heard, and Shen Po-yang's team drew their inspiration from this. In early September, he launched a line platform, and the name of it is, Mayor, You Better Listen to Me. We talked about this in our first episode. Once you enter, you become a little animal, a commuter, a renter, a parent, an elder, and so on, with all sorts of animals lining up, waiting to speak to the future mayor. Shen Poyang said that in past elections, it was always the candidates speaking on stage while the citizens listened below. He, on the other hand, wants to flip those roles. The citizens become the speakers, and he becomes the listener. He says he wants to turn every pain point in daily life into a policy proposal. As a result, less than 48 hours after the platform went live, there were over 10,000 comments. A week or so later, it surged to 40,000, and in the end, it accumulated about 60,000 entries. So how did Shen Poyang handle those 60,000 comments? His team used AI to categorize and archive every single comment by administrative district and topic. Shen Poyang once mentioned that they had previously organized data from the 1999 hotline, but because the 1999 data didn't show more detailed content, it wasn't enough. The 1999 mentioned here is Taipei's citizen hotline, which is equivalent to the 12,345 hotline in mainland China. It's essentially readily available complaint data held by the government. Shen Poyang felt it was too crude, so he simply built a more detailed public opinion database himself. And this is the most distinct characteristic of Shen Poyang in this election campaign. Other candidates first come up with their own political platforms, platforms that are written by their staff behind closed doors, and then they go out to canvas voters to get them to agree with those platforms. But Shen Poyang does the exact opposite. He listens to the voters' opinions first, and then thinks about how to refine his own political platform. This is pure democratic practice, letting the people truly be the masters. But these comments only represent a portion of the Taipei population, after all. There are still many grandpas and grandmas who don't know how to use them. What to do? Shen Poyang decided to go out and listen in person. He actually took a soapbox out to the streets. He'd go to whichever district had the most comments first. On site, he'd hand out question forms. Citizens would write down their questions and drop them into a transparent box. He'd draw them on the spot, and whoever was picked would stand on the soapbox and face him directly. As for the forms that weren't drawn, he'd take them all back to continue refining his files. The first event was in Nangang, because there were over 5,000 comments on the platform regarding Neihu and Nangang. That evening, at the exit of the Nangang Exhibition Center MRT station, supporters had lined up early, and over 100 question forms were handed out very quickly. Commuters who had just gotten off the MRT also stopped to watch the spectacle and take photos. A parent stood up on a soapbox and talked about the issue of children's school lunches. After Taipei's school lunches were made free, children would come home saying the food was terrible, and even if parents were willing to pay more, there was no way to make sure their kids could eat happily. Throughout the event, 20 or 30 people brought up this same issue to Shen Poyang. How did Shen Poyang respond? He said that while the intention behind free lunches is good, it lacks supporting measures. He suggested that parents should be allowed to pay for options, schools should be encouraged to hire their own nutritionists and have their own kitchens, and the city government should start by piloting this in a few schools. So that question was answered. A citizen from Wanhua asked, The number of homeless people around Longshan Temple and Taipei Main Station is increasing. Are there enough shelters? Well, this question stumped Shen Poyang. He didn't give a bureaucratic answer. He just replied directly that this is the hardest question, extremely difficult, and very hard to answer or handle. But he immediately added that they must come up with a solution, and as he was thinking, he suggested, could they make something like a mobile capsule shelter vehicle, similar to an electric bus? After saying that, he asked himself, but where would this vehicle park? The regulations don't allow it, and what about people with drug addictions? In the end, he promised that when he returns to Wanhua, he will definitely bring back a complete plan. Just like that, starting from Nangang, the soap pods was pushed all the way into the city. He went to Ximending, the Taipei Arena, and also to the Da'an District, which is a stronghold for the Kuomintang. The final event was at Linzen Park in the Zhongshan District. Before the event had even started, the park was already packed with people. A brewer asked him if Taipei could relax regulations like Taipei or London, allowing small breweries to be combined with restaurants. What do you think Shen Poyang's first sentence is? He said, you've asked about something I know absolutely nothing about because I don't drink, so I wouldn't dare speak carelessly. He said, I'll go back and study it thoroughly. Just think about it. For a politician running for office, the thing they fear saying most and the thing they shouldn't say is I don't understand or I don't know. Yet Shen Poyang said it time and time again to the citizens standing before his soapbox. I'd like to ask you, when a politician answers your question by saying they don't understand or don't know, would you look down on them or would you instead find them authentic and not just put in on a show? Friends, take a moment to think about this question. If you think you would look down on him, type A. If you think he's actually refreshingly authentic, type B. It was precisely these I don't understand and I don't know responses that made the people in the audience feel that Shen Po-Yang was truly listening and thinking. After listening to the citizens' questions, Shen Po-Yang received 60,000 comments and hundreds of question forms. For many politicians, the listening ends right here. They take a few photos, post them on Facebook, and that's it. But what Shen Po-Yang did went far beyond that. So what did he actually do? He didn't stop there. Instead, he launched the next phase, called the Taipei Great Ocean Current. Taipei has 12 administrative districts, so he grouped two or three districts into a single stop, and he went through them one stop at a time. How did he do it? In the evening, the motorcade would set off from the district. He would stand on the vehicle, driving through the streets and alleys. Supporters would stand along the roadside, waving as they passed by. In Taiwan, this is called a motorcade street sweep. I'm sure you've all seen videos of this before. The motorcade's final destination would be a temple or a park in that district, where a stage had been set up in advance. As soon as the car stopped, Shen Poyang would get on stage, open a treasure chest, and take out the policy proposal specifically written for that district. He called this the Great Treasure. Simply put, it means that for the problems he heard about in a particular district previously, he would bring his answers back to that same district and explain them in person to the citizens there. This is the Taipei Great Ocean Current. His first stop was in the Zhongshan and Datong districts, where the total number of comments combined reached over 8,400. The most common complaints were about the lack of trash cans, as well as issues with rats, cockroaches, mosquitoes, and safety concerns in the Tiatong area at night. Tiatong is a network of small Japanese-style alleys in the Zhongshan district, filled with many izakayas and bars. So what kind of big treasures did Shen Boyan uncover in the treasure chest he opened here? He plans to address the lack of trash cans, the rat problem, and public safety issues by appointing a night mayor to specifically coordinate city affairs at night and then conduct safety audits checking street by street to see where it's unsafe. He claims that this policy proposal answers over 90% of the citizens' questions. For his second stop, he went to Songshan and Xinyi, which is where he grew up. In the treasure chest for this stop, there's a secret treasure called Good Neighbor to the Dome because among the messages he received, over 300 were about the Taipei Dome. People said that nearby residents are suffering from water leaks, wraths, and the crowds leaving events often blocking their own front doors. Shen Boyang's solution is for the city government to set up a single point of contact to specifically handle these issues and ultimately hold the operator accountable. There are many, many more cases like this. You'll find that Shen Boyang is truly providing solutions for the issues everyone cares about. For a traditional politician, this isn't easy, because many of these problems are deep-seated, chronic issues. Furthermore, solving them often has a ripple effect, so just the thought of making adjustments is a major headache, let alone actually coming up with practical, viable solutions. The determination required and the workload behind this are unimaginable. However, there is one issue. Even if a plan is proposed, it might not go as expected when it comes to actual implementation. Whether it can truly be put into practice and effectively solve the citizens' problems will depend on Shen Boyang's capabilities. And these capabilities are on full display in the newly launched Heart Policy Island. For example, take the parent in Nangang we mentioned earlier who said their child complained about the school lunch being unappetizing. Just over a month later, an island named Nutritious Lunch appeared on Shen Po-Yang's policy island. So how did he solve it? First, he promoted cooperation between local small-scale farmers and schools. This solved the issue of ingredient variety, and costs could also be kept down. Then, by clarifying the current meal fees and costs, a flexible meal fee mechanism can be established. As for disadvantaged students, the government should provide subsidies so that every student can eat better. How exactly is this done? He needs to work together with 13 municipal government departments to make it happen. But the next question arises, what if the municipal departments don't cooperate? Well, the solution Shen Poyang proposed is to first relieve the pressure on civil servants and address the issues with municipal government employees. This ties into his next steps, which we'll get to in a moment. Everyone, keep listening. So, regarding this issue of school lunches, do you think the plan Shen Poyang proposed is practical and feasible? If you've listened this far, and assuming you're a Taipei resident, if you think this is actually doable, let me know in the comments. If you're not optimistic about it or think it's just empty talk, please tell us why. So this policy island isn't something drawn out of thin air by an outsourcing company. It's the result of Shen Po-Yang piecing together over 60,000 comments collected over the past four-plus months, six soapbox sessions, and stop-by-stop treasure hunts. This is what Shen Po-Yang has achieved over these four months. Just think, if he can achieve so much during the election campaign, imagine how much more he could do for Taipei once he becomes mayor. And he has no intention of stopping. For his next step, he's going to host a new kind of soapbox session called Mayor I Quit. This time, the people invited to the stage are teachers and civil servants. Why do you want to quit? Why do you want to leave Taipei? Where exactly is the bottleneck? In Shen Poyang's blueprint, he needs to solve the problems faced by civil servants and teachers first, so that he can then have these city government employees and teachers help him push forward solutions for the citizens' problems. To come up with such a detailed plan in such a short amount of time, I've taken a look at his entire heart policy guide, and I really think he's an impressive person. You can also feel his determination to actually get things done for the citizens of Taipei. Of course, when you move this fast and with such momentum, there are bound to be plenty of eggs thrown your way. In the past few days, quite a few big shots have been lining up to criticize Shen Poyang. I'm sure many of you have come across this video. It shows Shen Poyang campaigning on Shihzi Island a few days ago. This area is in the northwest corner of Taipei, tucked between two rivers. For decades, building houses has been restricted everywhere due to flood control, so the locals have been longing for development. They've been waiting for half a lifetime. On that day, an elderly woman saw Shen Poyang and suddenly knelt down, begging him to speak up for Shihzi Island after he gets elected. The next day, Kuomintang Taipei City Councilor Lin Chen-er said, hey, this is just a paid extra. She even added, I imagine she must be getting paid quite well for this. Online, rumors started spreading that this elderly woman had received 3,000 NT dollars, and eventually she couldn't help but come out and speak for herself. The elderly woman said, I have never lived anywhere else since I was born. I've always lived on Shihzi Island. She said she didn't even know why she knelt down at that moment. I just thought, if he really gets elected, he'll be more likely to speak up for us. As for taking money, the elderly woman said, absolutely not. If anything, I'm the one giving money out. I've never taken any money. Then there's another shocking statement from Ko Wen-je. This past Wednesday, Ko Wen-je went to Hualien to campaign for a Taiwan People's Party candidate. A reporter asked him what he thought about Chiang Wan-an trailing by 17 percentage points. He said, this Taipei mayoral election really has too much packaging. Then Ko Wen-je started reciting the Diamond Sutra. A willow is not a willow, it is called a willow. He finished with a passage, All conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles and shadows, like dew and like lightning, thus should one perceive them. The implication is that this whole willow business is just bubbles and illusions. So when Shen Poyang had the chance to be asked this question by a reporter, how did he respond? He said his stance has never changed. It's just that after running for office, he has spent more time listening to the voices of the citizens. If that's what you call packaging, then maybe a little more packaging is a good thing. For such a high EQ response, what score would you give him, friends? Let me know in the comments section. Also, on the same day, the CCP's Taiwan Affairs Office jumped out to criticize him again, calling him guilty and cowardly with a despicable character. The CCP is absolutely furious right now. As for the reason, we've already covered it in this episode, so for those who missed it, you're welcome to go watch it. My best advice to the CCP is to just shut up. If they speak up again, it will only end up helping Shen Boyang build even more momentum. Although Shen Boyang is currently on a roll and looks very promising, there are still two tough battles ahead. On October 26, Yang Liu is set to head into Keelung Port, the stronghold of the Blue Camp. Shen Boyang will be holding a port talk at Ocean Plaza with the Democratic Progressive Party's Keelung mayoral candidate Tong Zi-wei. As soon as this news broke, the current mayor of Keelung, Xu Kuolong, couldn't sit still anymore. This is because in 2024, a massive citizen-led campaign to recall the Kuomintang mayor, Shen Boyang, took place in Keelung. At the time, Shen Boyang, as a DPP legislator, deeply supported the recall, even going to Keelung in person just before the vote to campaign on the streets, standing on a campaign vehicle and shouting to bring Xie Kuo Liang down. Xie Kuo Liang has been holding a grudge about this ever since. Now, with this opponent, who once vowed to bring him down, stepping onto his home turf again with such imposing momentum and leading the charge, he and the Blue Camp are bound to be on high alert. So how Shen Boyang will once again enter Xie Kuo Liang's home turf this time is something worth watching. And the most anticipated date is October 31st, when Cheng Wan-an and Shen Boyang will have their first televised debate. Plus there's a cross-examination segment, which will be the most intense part of the entire debate, the moment most likely to produce iconic highlights or major gaffes. The true caliber of both sides will definitely be magnified sharply during this segment. So one is a challenger who has been questioned hundreds of times on the soapbox in the streets and dares to say, I don't understand or I don't know, while the other is the incumbent mayor of Taipei, surrounded by an aura of authority and holding on to stability. Who are you rooting for? Let me know in the comments. The drama of the upcoming Taipei mayoral election is only going to get more exciting. Subscribe to TrueView, Zhen Guan Dian, and we will continue to keep you updated in both our long-form and short-form videos as it happens. Alright, that's all for today. Friends, if you have anything you'd like to say, don't forget to share it with me in the comments section. Before you leave, if you haven't liked the video yet, please remember to give it a like. And for new friends, welcome to subscribe to TrueView. We will continue to follow the situation in Taipei. You are also welcome to forward and share my video with more friends, so that more people can gain a deeper understanding of this candidate, Shen Boyang. All right, that's all for today. Thanks for watching, everyone. Have a great weekend, everyone. Don't forget, we'll be back here at the same time tomorrow on TrueView. See you then. Bye-bye.