The Taiwan People's Party (TPP) on September 6 pulled Hsinchu County out of its election cooperation agreement with the Kuomintang (KMT) after the two parties' cooperation over the Jhubei mayoral race broke down. Members who publicly back or campaign for non-TPP candidates will be disciplined strictly, with expulsion the heaviest penalty, secretary-general Chou Yu-hsiu said after a special expanded party meeting. Asked what penalty campaigning for KMT county magistrate candidate Hsu Hsin-ying would bring, Chou said headquarters' cooperation instructions had to be respected, so going to either side was not allowed at this moment; violators would be referred to the party's Central Evaluation Committee.
What caused the split? KMT nominee Wu Hsu-chih and TPP nominee Chiu Chen-yuan both registered for the Jhubei race on September 3, and Hsu said the next day that the two parties had never reached an agreement to cede it, CNA reported. TPP chairman Huang Kuo-chang said that if she kept lying openly, she would only look worse. Chou said the KMT and Hsu had failed to honour their commitments, damaging two years of built-up trust. The KMT's county chapter had barred its members from campaigning for non-KMT nominees.
How does Huang tell it? In a radio interview on September 9, Huang said Hsu and KMT legislator Lin Szu-ming had both assured him to his face that the KMT would contest the county while the TPP took Jhubei. KMT chair 
Cheng Li-wun had said she understood and would work to bring it about, he said, but the party later held a primary. Once Wu won, Huang said, Hsu changed her position, saying the runner-up would not accept his withdrawal and the party could not handle it. "Are you treating me like a fool?" Huang said.
What legal action followed? My-Formosa chairman Wu Tzu-chia said Line messages between Hsu and Huang contained no such commitment, and announced a criminal complaint against Huang, TPP founding chairman 
Ko Wen-je, Chou, Chiu and others for spreading false rumours. Huang said lawsuits could not rescue Hsu's "bankrupt" credibility.
Will the rift spread? Chou said the TPP hoped the situation would stay in Hsinchu County, and Huang said partnerships elsewhere, including New Taipei and Yilan, were unchanged. KMT communications chief Chen I-hsin said Cheng had told the KMT's Central Standing Committee she would face the problem with utmost sincerity and patience; both sides, he said, should calm down and "say less." Hsu's office said it would work for opposition unity.
Figures referenced: Cheng Li-wun, Ko Wen-je. — JudgeMarket.
