Taiwan's year-end local elections are getting messy for the KMT, with public infighting in Hsinchu County and Taipei that mostly helps the opposition.

• Hsu Hsin-ying registered as the KMT's Hsinchu County magistrate candidate, and her primary rival Chen Chien-hsien shut down rumors he would quit the party and run anyway, saying he will keep his word even though it costs him.
• Chen still made his unhappiness clear, saying backing the KMT does not mean backing any one person without limits.
• The party's own former Hsinchu magistrate Fan Chen-tsung tore into chairwoman Cheng Li-wun at the registration event, blaming her for the failed blue-white alliance and calling her the one to answer if the county is lost.
• Taipei mayor Chiang Wan-an is under fire because his son holds US citizenship yet won a city-funded exchange spot; the son will now go abroad at the family's expense, and the KMT is hitting back at the ruling DPP over an old scholarship to the president's son.
• The cabinet is passing a record extra budget, with the biggest chunks going to a CPC Corp capital injection, military drones, weapons and pay, plus relief measures tied to the Middle East conflict.

Outlook: With roughly 80 days to the vote, KMT infighting and the Taipei citizenship row look set to keep dominating the campaign while defense spending climbs.