Negotiations between the Kuomintang and the Taiwan People's Party on cooperation in Hsinchu have broken down, straining relations between the two parties, but the KMT is playing down the impact, saying cooperation in other counties and cities will not be affected.

• The two parties had originally planned to jointly back a candidate for mayor of Zhubei; after the talks collapsed, each accused the other of lying.
• Wu Tzu-chia, chairman of My-Formosa.com, has retained a lawyer to file a criminal complaint against TPP chairman Huang Kuo-chang and others, saying Hsu Hsin-ying never made any commitment to Huang.
• Hsu Yu-chen, secretary-general of the KMT legislative caucus, said she believes the two party chairs have the wisdom to resolve the matter, and that the principle of blue-white cooperation in each county and city remains unchanged.
• There are also dissenting voices within the party, with some legislators worried that Hsu Hsin-ying's years-long absence from grassroots work in Zhubei could drag down the party's prospects in the Hsinchu County magistrate race.
• Hsinchu County Magistrate Yang Wen-ke and Deputy Magistrate Chen Chien-hsien publicly stressed unity, with Chen adding a reminder that genuine unity must be built on integrity and respect.

Outlook: The rift in Hsinchu will be hard to mend in the short term, and whether the two party chairs step in to mediate will determine whether the blue-white camps can continue cooperating in other counties and cities.