A young former KMT official has been thrown out of the party after repeatedly attacking its new leadership, and he is now fighting the expulsion in public — bad news for KMT unity ahead of November elections.

• Ding Yu, a former deputy head of the KMT's youth department, was expelled after party delegates pushed for it over his repeated attacks on chairwoman Cheng Li-wun and KMT lawmakers.
• He showed up at party headquarters during a central committee meeting to protest and demand Cheng's removal, but security blocked him at the door.
• He called the current leadership a "fake KMT" and a branch office of the Chinese Communist Party, saying it no longer listens to public opinion.
• He says he will not appeal and will never join another party, framing himself as the true heir to the party's anti-communist tradition his grandfather and father carried.
• He also linked his fight to Chen Hsing-yu in the south, casting both as cleaning up corrupt forces before the November 28 vote.

Outlook: The split gives the KMT a loud internal critic heading into the late-November election, and Ding Yu shows no sign of backing down.