Taiwan's Legislative Yuan has cut the Presidential Office's state affairs fund, and in doing so also slashed the money used to purchase Mid-Autumn Festival gift boxes from sheltered workshops for people with disabilities — bad news for the disabled workers employed there.

• The Presidential Office's NT$30 million state affairs fund was reduced by NT$10 million and had a further NT$20 million frozen, including the budget for purchasing Mid-Autumn gift boxes from charitable organisations.
• The Parents' Association for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities issued a strong condemnation, saying sheltered workshop employees should not become casualties of political infighting, and that those with the least political leverage are the ones bearing the cost.
• Kuomintang legislator Weng Hsiao-ling countered that without seeing the purchase orders she cannot accept that the money was really spent on mooncakes, and accused the Presidential Office of using disadvantaged groups as "hostages" to smear her.
• Weng also said she has been subjected to prolonged attacks and even personal threats from DPP-aligned commentators and pundits, and has gathered evidence and filed several lawsuits.
• The Parents' Association called on the government to shift to "planned production" and year-round employment opportunities instead of one-off charitable purchases tied to festivals.

Outlook: This budget standoff is unlikely to cool down soon, sheltered workshops may well lose their Mid-Autumn orders this year, and the war of words between the Blue and Green camps looks set to continue.