Editing Pan-Blue Coalition (section)

=== First time in opposition: 2000–2008 ===
In the 2000 presidential election itself, the split in Kuomintang votes between Soong and Lien led in part to the election of Chen Shui-bian. After the election, there was widespread anger within the Kuomintang against Lee Teng-hui, who was expelled for forming his own pro-[[Taiwan independence]] party, the [[Taiwan Solidarity Union]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=KMT breaks it off with Lee Teng-hui - Taipei Times|url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2001/09/22/0000103986|date=2001-09-22|website=[[Taipei Times]]|access-date=2020-05-24}}</ref> After Lee's expulsion, the Kuomintang moved its policies back to a more conservative one and began informal but close cooperation with the People First Party and the [[New Party (Taiwan)|New Party]]. This coalition became informally known as the Pan-Blue Coalition. Although the members of the Pan-Blue Coalition maintain separate party structures, they closely cooperate in large part to ensure that electoral strategies are coordinated, so that votes are not split among them leading to a victory by the Pan-Green Coalition.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

The KMT and PFP ran a combined ticket in the [[2004 Taiwan presidential election|2004 presidential elections]] with Lien Chan running for president and James Soong running for vice president. The campaign emblem for the Lien-Soong campaign was a two-seat bicycle with a blue (the color of the KMT) figure in the first seat and an orange (the color of the PFP) figure in the second.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

There were talks in late 2004 that the KMT and the PFP would merge into one party in 2005, but these talks have been put on hold. In the [[2004 ROC legislative election|2004 legislative election]] the three parties from the pan-blue coalition organized themselves to properly divide up the votes ({{lang|zh|配票}}) to prevent splitting the vote. The New Party ran all but one of its candidates under the KMT banner. The result was that the KMT gained 11 more seats and the PFP lost 12 seats. Right after the election, PFP chairman James Soong began criticizing the KMT for sacrificing the PFP for its own gains and stated that he would not participate in any negotiations regarding to the two parties' merge. Soong's remarks have been strongly criticized by the KMT, a majority of PFP members, and the New Party, whose rank and file were largely absorbed by the PFP following the 2001 elections. Nonetheless, shortly after the legislative election, the PFP legislative caucus agreed to cooperate with the DPP over the investigation into the KMT's finances. On 24 February 2005, James Soong met with President Chen for the first time in four years and issued a 10-point declaration<ref>{{cite web|url=http://english.www.gov.tw/index.jsp?id=11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050223010242/http://english.www.gov.tw/index.jsp?id=11|url-status=dead|archive-date=23 February 2005|title=e-Government Website/Homapage|date=23 February 2005}}</ref> supporting the name "Republic of China", the status quo in [[cross-strait relations]], and the opening of the [[Three Links]]. Unlike Soong, Lien did not respond to the offer from Chen to meet.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

However, after the [[2005 Pan-Blue visits to mainland China]], Soong and Chen stopped their partnership. The popular [[Taipei]] mayor [[Ma Ying-jeou]] was also elected the new head of the [[Kuomintang]], and was considered the leading contender for the KMT nomination in the [[2008 ROC presidential election|2008 presidential election]]. However, it was uncertain whether the KMT and PFP could agree to field a common ticket. On the [[2005 KMT chairmanship election|2005 chairmanship election]], Soong had made a televised endorsement of Ma's opponent [[Wang Jin-pyng]].{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

In the [[2005 Republic of China local elections|December 2005 3-in-1 local elections]], the KMT made large gains and held 14 seats, the DPP suffered defeat and held only six, the PFP retained only one, and the TSU was completely shut out. Ma Ying-jeou was now virtually assured of leading the KMT and pan-blues for the [[2008 ROC presidential election|2008 presidential election]].{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}