Presidential office budget cut leaves disabled workers' mooncake orders in limbo
A budget fight in Taiwan's legislature has wiped out the presidential office's discretionary fund, and the collateral damage falls on sheltered workshops that make Mid-Autumn Festival mooncakes.
- Opposition lawmakers used their majority to freeze and cut the entire NT$30 million presidential discretionary fund.
- The office had ordered 15,000 gift boxes from 37 sheltered workshops and disability groups; those orders may now be cancelled.
- President Lai Ching-te paid NT$200,000 out of his own pocket to buy festival gifts from welfare groups.
- Legislative vice speaker Chiang Chi-chen, running for Taichung mayor, stayed silent on the cut and faces accusations of hiding from the issue.
- His campaign says the vote targeted the general fund, not a mooncake line item, and calls the presidential office's press conference a cynical use of disabled workers for political point-scoring.
Outlook: Expect the row to keep running through the Taichung mayoral race, with pressure on lawmakers to restore or work around the funding before the festival.