Taiwan's food safety scandal ends in criminal charges against four oil companies, while a defense contractor is accused of slipping Chinese parts into a military drone order — bad news for the food industry and a warning sign for Taiwan's defense supply chain.

• Prosecutors in Taichung charged four oil firms and 15 executives over cooking oil tainted with a cancer-causing chemical, seeking heavy prison terms and clawback of the profits.
• Company bosses knew the oil was contaminated months earlier and kept selling it, and one chairman even phoned another to stop him reporting it — the industry's self-reporting system failed completely.
• A drone company that won a military contract with a rock-bottom bid is accused of using Chinese chips and covering the origin labels; the army caught it, and prosecutors are now probing whether China reached into Taiwan's defense tenders.
• A political fight is brewing after the premier refused to countersign bills passed by parliament, with the legislative speaker saying no government power outranks the constitution.
• A former local official in New Taipei got nearly five years for tricking an elderly woman into signing away a home worth millions.

Outlook: Expect the drone case to widen into a broader look at Chinese involvement in Taiwan's defense contracts, and the oil case to keep pressure on food industry regulation.