A quiet snub inside Taiwan's KMT signals trouble for the party chair ahead of local elections — bad news for Cheng Li-wun, cautious politics for candidates who need swing voters.

• Cheng Li-wun's comments on relations with China have stirred controversy and may push middle-of-the-road voters away.
• Lee Si-chuan, the KMT's candidate for New Taipei mayor, left a women's association event ten minutes early and never crossed paths with her.
• Their arrival times at the same hotel were set an hour and a half apart, so the two were never in the same frame.
• Lee stayed popular with the crowd, posing for photos table by table before slipping out, with KMT vice chair Li Chien-lung alongside him.

Outlook: Expect more KMT candidates to keep their distance from the party chair as the local election campaign heats up.