Taiwan's Presidential Office says budget cuts have forced it to drop planned charity mooncake purchases, and it is now publicly feuding with opposition lawmakers over who is to blame.

• The office had planned to buy Mid-Autumn gift boxes from 37 sheltered workshops and charity groups, but cuts and freezes to its discretionary budget killed the orders.
• Instead it held a press event urging the public to buy the products directly, to keep the charities from losing the sales.
• KMT lawmaker Weng Hsiao-ling said President Lai Ching-te should just pay out of his own pocket; the office replied he will, as in past years, while comparing her stance to an arsonist quizzing firefighters at the scene.
• TPP chair Huang Kuo-chang called using state funds for mooncakes cheap politics, which the office brushed off, saying the spending follows audit rules.

Outlook: The row is a preview of a tighter fight over Taiwan's central government budget, with disability workshops and social welfare groups caught in the middle.