Kuomintang chairwoman Cheng Li-wun misspoke at a campaign event in Hsinchu County, saying "blue-white showdown" instead of "blue-green showdown," a slip that highlighted how unsteady KMT-TPP cooperation currently is — bad news for both parties.

• Cheng made the slip while accompanying Hsu Hsin-ying and Wu Hsu-chih as they registered their candidacies, then immediately corrected herself to "blue-white cooperation, blue-green showdown," joking that everyone was too nervous.
• Hsinchu County Magistrate Yang Wen-ke stepped in to douse the flames, saying that whether Chiu Chen-yuan or Wu Hsu-chih wins the Zhubei mayoral race, the KMT and TPP remain good friends.
• Former magistrate Fan Chen-tsung opened fire on the spot, saying that the failure of the KMT and TPP to cooperate is a strategic error and that if the party performs poorly in Hsinchu, Cheng Li-wun must bear full responsibility.
• Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an also called for "maximizing blue-white seats," describing the relationship between the two parties as "brothers climbing a mountain, each making their own effort."
• In Kinmen, former magistrate Yang Cheng-wu announced his withdrawal from the race, sparing Chen Yu-chen an internal split within the KMT camp.

Outlook: With just over 80 days until the local elections, how the KMT and TPP manage to coordinate in key constituencies such as Zhubei and Taipei will determine whether the two sides can genuinely cooperate.