Former Kuomintang spokesman Ho Chih-yung has announced he is entering the race for mayor of Hsinchu City even though the party's central leadership did not grant him a letter of endorsement, raising the prospect that the pan-blue vote in Hsinchu could be split.

• Ho completed his registration today, stressing that he has been a KMT member for 20 years, but in the end he did not obtain the party's endorsement letter.
• He issued a challenge to incumbent independent Mayor Ann Kao and the Democratic Progressive Party's Chuang Ching-cheng, calling for a public debate on city government.
• He criticised his opponents for spending recent months either tied up in litigation or still holding office in another city, while he has held numerous forums on municipal affairs.
• He was accompanied at registration by local figures including Chien Kang-ming, a former head of the city's cultural affairs bureau under Kao, an indication that he has a degree of support in Hsinchu.

Outlook: The pan-blue camp in Hsinchu City looks set for a split, and the coming weeks will show whether the KMT's central leadership steps in to broker a deal or opens the nomination up to a contest.