The Kuomintang's Taichung City branch has cracked down, revoking the party membership of two members who registered to run for Taichung City councillor in breach of party rules — a negative signal for the party's local election prospects.

• The city branch's disciplinary committee decided unanimously to revoke the party membership of Chang Shu-hua and Chou Chi-yang, both of whom registered to run for city councillor despite not receiving the party's nomination.
• Five other members quit the party of their own accord before registering to run; among them, Cheng Po-chi also had his party delegate status revoked.
• The branch has nominated 34 candidates for city councillor in total, and stressed that party members who help campaign for those running in breach of the rules will first be counselled and then disciplined.
• One of those expelled protested the decision, saying the party gave shifting accounts during the coordination process and denied him a fair chance to compete; the other said he would leave the decision to the voters.
• Another member switched to running under the Democratic Progressive Party banner when registering for a borough chief race, a case left for the next disciplinary committee meeting to handle.

Outlook: The split in Taichung's grassroots KMT is unlikely to be resolved soon, and a second wave of punishments for those campaigning in breach of party rules is expected to follow.