Cooperation between Taiwan's "blue-white" parties in local elections is loosening — bad news for both the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Taiwan People's Party (TPP), and an opportunity for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

• TPP Chairman Huang Kuo-chang said the party would not field a candidate for magistrate in Changhua, but that the KMT must resolve Changhua's problems itself.
• Blue-white cooperation has already collapsed in the Zhubei mayoral race, with both parties registering their own candidates; Ko Wen-je told Huang to his face to clean up the mess quickly.
• Taichung is moving in the opposite direction, with Huang appearing on stage hand in hand with Lu Shiow-yen and Chiang Chi-chen, stressing that cooperation benefits both sides.
• Lee Si-chuan, a candidate for New Taipei City mayor, guaranteed that blue-white cooperation there would not change either before or after the election.
• The TPP is also entangled in a sex scandal involving a member of its Central Review Committee that broke on the eve of the party's anniversary; the person involved has denied it and says they will sue.

Outlook: whether the breakdown in Zhubei spreads to other cities and counties is the biggest thing to watch in blue-white relations going forward.