Blue-White cooperation shows cracks in Changhua and Zhubei as Huang Kuo-chang criticises the KMT
Election cooperation between Taiwan's two opposition parties is showing cracks — bad news for the Blue-White camp, which had hoped to join forces against the ruling party.
- The Kuomintang (KMT) and the Taiwan People's Party (TPP) are each fielding their own candidates in the Zhubei mayoral and Changhua county magistrate elections, and their cooperation has broken down.
- TPP Chairman Huang Kuo-chang sharply criticised the KMT for destroying the overall cooperation for the sake of a single seat, likening it to "burning down an entire forest for the sake of one tree."
- Huang said trust has to be built up bit by bit and is very hard to repair once damaged, adding that he has received no contact whatsoever from KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun since the incident.
- The TPP stressed that it has kept its word by not fielding a candidate for Changhua county magistrate, but insisted its Zhubei candidate will stay in the race to the end.
- Ko Wen-je, Huang Kuo-chang and KMT Taichung mayoral candidate Chiang Chi-chen still appeared together at a central Taiwan forum, indicating that cooperation has not completely collapsed on the surface.
Outlook: If the nomination deadlock in Zhubei and elsewhere cannot be resolved soon, Blue-White integration for next year's local elections may unravel further.