Cooperation between the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Taiwan People's Party (TPP) in the Jhubei City mayoral race in Hsinchu County broke down on August 28, leaving the two parties with rival candidates. TPP chairman Huang Kuo-chang said KMT chair 
Cheng Li-wun told him when they met on the evening of August 26 that she could not handle the Jhubei race, and that the TPP would back its nominee, Chiu Chen-yuan, "firmly to the end." KMT candidate Wu Hsu-chih had been first to collect registration forms a day before Huang spoke, CNA reported.
What had the two parties agreed? Nothing was signed for greater Hsinchu, but the TPP fielded no one for county magistrate on an understanding that it would back KMT candidate Hsu Hsin-ying there while a TPP nominee ran in Jhubei, Huang said. Speaking at a press conference with Chiu, he said cooperation cannot rest on one party failing to keep its commitments while the other keeps all of its own, shifting the political cost onto its partner, CNA reported.
How did Cheng respond? In a statement, she said Jhubei was a highly unusual race requiring careful weighing, so the two sides "do have different assessments" on the candidate. That did not change their aim of cooperating to win the 2026 elections, she said, urging both sides to face future challenges "with a bigger vision."
How has 
Ko Wen-je responded? Ko, the TPP's founding chairman, urged Huang and Cheng to settle the fallout quickly, saying he feared it spreading to Yilan and New Taipei. When Hsu called for forbearance for the greater good, Ko asked why the TPP should be the one to forbear, Public Television Service reported. He later said Hsu, whose office said its stance on cooperation had never changed, should explain her understanding of it in person rather than through a spokesperson.
Is a deal still possible? Former KMT legislator Lin Wei-chou posted late on August 31 that the parties leaned toward jointly backing Chiu, but Huang said on September 1 that Cheng had messaged him after calling Hsu, who told her the claim was untrue. KMT party sources called Lin's claim a mix-up, since Wu had not agreed to step aside, and said the party would back a joint candidate chosen by poll but that yielding outright could be very difficult, CNA reported. Ko called the KMT's explanations strange and asked: "If what is said can't be trusted, how can we cooperate?"
Figures referenced: Cheng Li-wun, Ko Wen-je. — JudgeMarket.
