Blue-white cooperation in Hsinchu County has all but broken down — bad news for both the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Taiwan People's Party (TPP), and an unexpected opening for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

• The KMT's Wu Hsu-chih has picked up a registration form to run for mayor of Zhubei, putting him in direct competition with the TPP's Chiu Chen-yuan.
• The original understanding between the two parties was that the TPP would not contest the Hsinchu County magistrate race and would back the KMT instead, in exchange for the white camp fielding the candidate for Zhubei mayor.
• Chiu Chen-yuan said the KMT's central and local branches had failed to deliver on the agreed coordination, adding that as the only nominee within his party he would register in accordance with the law and see the race through to the end.
• Zhubei and Zhudong together account for nearly 60 percent of the vote in Hsinchu County, so a blue-white split would scatter those ballots.
• The DPP is fielding incumbent Zhubei Mayor Cheng Chao-fang for the county magistrate race, and polling already puts him close to the KMT's Hsu Hsin-ying.

Outlook: Chiu Chen-yuan will hold a press conference tomorrow to explain the negotiation process. If the blue-white alliance does indeed split, Hsinchu County — governed by the KMT for more than 20 years — could change hands, which would also affect cooperation talks ahead of 2028.