A crack has appeared in the blue-white cooperation in Hsinchu County, which is bad news for both parties' local election prospects — and especially damaging to the KMT's bid to retain the magistracy.

• The Taiwan People's Party announced that it is barring its members from campaigning for KMT Hsinchu County magistrate candidate Hsu Hsin-ying, and will instead throw its full support behind Chupei mayoral candidate Chiu Chen-yuan.
• The KMT responded that Chupei is a county-administered city and was therefore never within the scope of the blue-white cooperation covering 22 cities and counties in the first place; Hualien City is in the same situation.
• The KMT stressed that the overall direction of blue-white cooperation remains unchanged, and that cooperation in Hsinchu City, Chiayi City, Yilan and Tainan is still going smoothly.
• The KMT blamed the turmoil in Chupei on the DPP, saying that the local race was thrown into flux only after incumbent Chupei Mayor Cheng Chao-fang was pulled in to run for magistrate.

Outlook: The rupture between the two parties is so far confined to Hsinchu County, and both sides hope to cool tensions and avoid damaging their cooperation in other cities and counties.