Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen publicly called for the KMT to return to power, saying the three of them are "all indispensable" — a positive signal for consolidation within the pan-blue camp, though it also drew a strong online backlash.

• Lu travelled north to attend a Taiwan Foundation for Democracy event, sharing a stage with Legislative Yuan Speaker Han Kuo-yu and Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an, and said that when the KMT returns to power in the future, "we will all be there, and every one of us is indispensable."
• The event was nominally a joint initiative by the six special municipalities to establish a "Union of Local Governments of Taiwan," with the local government heads signing a letter of intent at an unveiling ceremony.
• The three are the top three names in the latest polling for 2028, with Chiang Wan-an first, Han Kuo-yu second and Lu Shiow-yen third; their joint appearance was read as a sign of pan-blue consolidation.
• That evening she posted the video of the joint appearance on Facebook and repeated the line, and the comment section filled with criticism, with most questioning her performance running Taichung and the KMT's position on cross-strait relations.

Outlook: The cooperative posture among the pan-blue camp's three leading figures is likely to continue, but the contest for the 2028 nomination remains unresolved, and internal competition and outside scepticism will not disappear in the short term.