Taiwan's opposition alliance has cracked ahead of the year-end local elections, a setback for both parties' hopes of unseating the DPP.

• The Taiwan People's Party voted to stop backing KMT candidate Hsu Hsin-ying in Hsinchu County, saying she broke a promise and destroyed two years of trust.
• The party is now free of its 2026 joint-governance deal with the KMT there, and any member who publicly campaigns for the KMT's Zhubei candidates can be expelled.
• Hsu's camp says it respects each party's internal rules but still wants the blue-white alliance to hold, aiming to win in 2026 and remove the DPP in 2028.
• KMT figures in Hsinchu say nobody in the party ever promised to concede Zhubei to the TPP.
• The KMT is playing down the damage, arguing the Ko Wen-je wave that once pulled strong TPP votes in Zhubei has faded.

Outlook: Both sides are still talking up opposition unity, so expect pressure to patch the deal before the year-end vote — but Hsinchu County is now a three-way fight.