Blue-White Alliance Collapses in Zhubei Mayoral Race as Li Chen-hsiu's Surprise Bid Sparks Eligibility Dispute

Aug 25, 2026

The mayoral election in Zhubei City, Hsinchu County, has turned into a multi-way contest. Coordination between the Kuomintang and the Taiwan People's Party has broken down, and the sudden announcement by former TPP legislator Li Chen-hsiu that she will run has made the race even harder to predict.

  • The KMT's Wu Hsu-chih and the TPP's Chiu Chen-yuan had originally planned to field a joint candidate, but both are now registering separately, marking the collapse of the blue-white alliance.
  • Wu Hsu-chih will register on September 3, while Chiu Chen-yuan is expected to register in late August, accompanied by party chairman Huang Kuo-chang.
  • Li Chen-hsiu, originally from mainland China and married to a Taiwanese spouse, made a surprise announcement of her candidacy and put forward five major policy platforms, saying the move was not a spur-of-the-moment decision.
  • Li Chen-hsiu previously lost her legislative seat because she could not produce documentation proving she had renounced her Chinese household registration, and was subsequently expelled from the TPP. Her eligibility to run was immediately called into question.
  • Democratic Progressive Party candidate Tseng Sheng-kai has demanded that she provide full documentation regarding dual nationality, household registration, and her eligibility to hold public office.

Outlook: The focus ahead of the election will be on whether Li Chen-hsiu can pass the eligibility review, while the blue-white split could work to the DPP's advantage in this key constituency.

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