Lo Shu-yen and Chen Chi-mai Lose! The Top-Trending County Mayor is 'Him': Carcinogenic Oil Scandal Explodes, Positive Influence Reaches Record High

The Zhonglian carcinogenic oil scandal has raged for a month, escalating into a political battle between local and central governments. Net Temperature DailyView, using its KEYPO Big Data Key Engine sentiment analysis software, has revealed the July 2026 online visibility and positive influence rankings of all county mayors across Taiwan. Below is the complete ranking from 10th to 1st place for county mayors' online visibility in July.

10th Place: Huang Min-hui (Mayor of Chiayi City) | Positive Influence: 2.65 Huang Min-hui, Mayor of Chiayi City, entered the rankings for the first time in 2026, with a total of 13,445 mentions. Discussion热度 focused on 'food safety protests' and '2026 election strategy.' On July 25, Huang participated in the anti-toxic oil rally on Ketagalan Boulevard and joined an online national forum initiated by Lo Shu-yen, advocating for the central government to establish an emergency response center. Another visibility peak came from the 'Blue-White Unity Press Conference,' where KMT Chairperson Cheng Li-chen, TPP Chairperson Huang Kuo-chang, and candidate Chang Chi-chieh appeared together, generating 3,646 mentions from this single event.

9th Place: Chang Li-shan (Magistrate of Yunlin County) | Positive Influence: 2.51 Yunlin County Magistrate Chang Li-shan accumulated 13,978 mentions. On July 19, she joined Lo Shu-yen, Chiang Wan-an, and Hsieh Kuo-liang in Taichung to form the 'Anti-Toxic Oil F4' and participated in the July 25 Ketagalan Boulevard march. Additionally, on July 9, Chang's vehicle was violently rear-ended by a ready-mix concrete truck while stopped at a red light on Provincial Highway 3 in Gukeng. Despite shock and physical discomfort, she insisted on completing scheduled meetings before seeking medical attention, generating 3,309 condolence-related mentions.

8th Place: Hsieh Kuo-liang (Mayor of Keelung City) | Positive Influence: 2.40 Keelung Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang returned to the top 10, with visibility concentrated on the July 25 anti-toxic oil march and the 'Anti-Toxic Oil F4' appearance, accumulating 15,515 mentions. Additionally, a case of child abuse at a Keelung kindergarten prompted Hsieh to meet with parents five times, bowing in apology. This led to the resignation of Education Bureau Director Hsu Yen-li, the reassignment of Deputy Director Yang Yung-fen, and the revocation of the kindergarten's license. Related discussions totaled 5,765 mentions, peaking at 2,306 on July 7. Experts analyzed that his sincere engagement successfully managed the crisis.

7th Place: Chang Shan-cheng (Mayor of Taoyuan City) | Positive Influence: 2.73 Taoyuan Mayor Chang Shan-cheng ranked second only to Chiang Wan-an in positive influence. Food safety discussions generated 9,307 mentions, with a 1,000-character statement on July 22 driving 3,037 mentions. The Taoyuan City government reversed its stance on benzopyrene-contaminated salad oil from 'no problematic batches' to '13 schools affected,' drawing criticism from the Green Camp. Typhoon Bavi's holiday decision generated 2,793 discussions, with Chang emphasizing he would not sacrifice public safety for a one-level wind difference. A joint street campaign with Ko Chih-en in Kaohsiung on July 2 brought 2,144 mentions.

6th Place: Kao Hung-an (Mayor of Hsinchu City) | Positive Influence: 2.52 Hsinchu Mayor Kao Hung-an generated 13,898 mentions on food safety this month, primarily due to formaldehyde detected in Hsinchu Nonggeng brand rice flour. The Green Camp criticized the city government for covering up the issue for seven weeks while 18 schools continued using it. The city government announced on July 31 that expanded testing of 15 companies and 23 products showed no detections. Hsinchu City Baseball Stadium's artificial turf installation is expected to be completed by the end of August, and the Control Yuan's July 17 report correcting five major deficiencies generated 8,134 discussion mentions.

5th Place: Hou Yu-ih (Mayor of New Taipei City) | Positive Influence: 2.68 New Taipei Mayor Hou Yu-ih achieved 15,229 mentions this month, concentrated on policy achievements. On July 22, he announced the New Taipei Dome would be located at the 'South Side of Ji-5 Base' in Shulin, planning a 50,000-seat venue with construction expected to begin in 2032, peaking at 3,292 mentions that day. During the toxic oil scandal, Hou attended the Ketagalan event but did not speak. New Taipei has conducted 45 oil inspections over the past three years, all including benzopyrene testing, generating 11,766 food safety-related discussions.

4th Place: Huang Wei-cher (Mayor of Tainan City) | Positive Influence: 2.69 Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-cher rose to fourth place this month, gaining 17,866 mentions from the carcinogenic oil controversy. He declined to attend the Ketagalan march and online meeting, emphasizing that local authorities should not shift blame to the central government for failing frontline inspections. His sister Huang Chih-hsien's viral video 'Sister Scolds Brother for Being Stupid' was widely shared on social media. Former KMT New Media Director Wei Chun-yu was investigated for using AI to synthesize the president's voice in a video. Chiang Wan-an claimed he commissioned the video, prompting Huang to hold a press conference in Taipei playing the deepfake audio to question Chiang, creating 14,357 mentions from this AI deepfake audio battle.

3rd Place: Chen Chi-mai (Mayor of Kaohsiung City) | Positive Influence: 2.38 Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai received 102,289 mentions during the carcinogenic oil political storm. Chiang Wan-an invited him to join the march and proposed a cabinet resignation, naming Chen as a potential successor. Chen responded coolly, stating he would complete his term. A July 21 survey by the Epochal Public Opinion Center showed Chen's administrative satisfaction at 80.9%, with 61.6% approval among KMT supporters, generating 8,386 discussion mentions. However, the death of 5,000 kilograms of fish in Kaohsiung's Houjing Creek and the controversy over the red torii-style护栏 at Jiurush Bridge also accumulated 4,362 discussion mentions.

2nd Place: Lo Shu-yen (Mayor of Taichung City) | Positive Influence: 2.68 Taichung Mayor Lo Shu-yen reclaimed the second-highest visibility nationwide. With Zhonglian Company based in Taichung, Lo was at the storm's center. After responding to Chiang Wan-an's call to join the Ketagalan march, her single-day visibility peaked at 70,299 mentions on July 18. The next day, she joined Chiang Wan-an, Hsieh Kuo-liang, and Chang Li-shan in Taichung to form the 'Anti-Toxic Oil F4' and convened an online national forum with 17 Blue-White county mayors. Although facing attacks from political commentators alleging the city government failed to test Zhonglian Oil's benzopyrene for eight years, accumulating 48,868 mentions, Lo countered by quoting President Lai Ching-te's statements from 12 years ago when he was Tainan Mayor, creating 10,519 discussion topics.

1st Place: Chiang Wan-an (Mayor of Taipei City) | Positive Influence: 2.98 Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an broke 2.52 million mentions in July, 2.24 times that of the previous month, with a positive influence as high as 2.98, securing first place nationwide in both categories. Chiang called for citizens to join the 'Anti-Toxic Oil Action' on Ketagalan Boulevard on July 25, accumulating 946,425 mentions from this single event (37.4% of total). On July 27, during an interview, he proposed a cabinet resignation, calling for Premier Cho Jung-tai to step down and naming Chen Chi-mai as successor. On July 29, single-day mentions surged past 130,000, with related mentions totaling 193,592. Additionally, Chiang's verbal clash with councilor Chien Shu-pei over budget issues in the council, calling her a 'funding-demanding Voldemort,' accumulated 109,644 mentions. The two-day holiday decision during Typhoon Bavi also generated 223,214 discussion mentions.

Source: Net Temperature DailyView (Original Title: July County Mayor Online Visibility TOP 10: Chiang Wan-an's Anti-Carcinogenic Oil Visibility Breaks 2.5 Million, Huang Wei-cher's Positive Influence Leads Green Camp)