Taiwan's Kuomintang legislator Weng Hsiao-ling has come under fire for cutting government budgets while simultaneously applying for a publicly funded overseas travel subsidy — bad news for public trust in the Legislative Yuan.

• Weng originally planned to lead six legislators on visits to the parliaments of Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic, applying to party headquarters for more than NT$2 million in funding from the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy.
• Party headquarters turned down the request on the grounds that it had already funded Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun's delegations to China and the United States, leaving insufficient funds.
• She had previously led efforts to cut and freeze the budgets of various ministries, the Premier's salary, and the President's state affairs fund — including money used to buy mooncakes for social welfare groups.
• Democratic Progressive Party legislator Wang Ting-yu criticised her, saying "the nerve of it," and accusing her of cutting other people's budgets while asking the government to pay for her own trip abroad.
• Weng responded that the amount was later reduced to NT$500,000 and has since been withdrawn, and that the trip did not go ahead because the legislative session was extended, adding that it might be arranged next year.

Outlook: The episode is likely to keep being cited in scrutiny of the KMT's standards for budget cuts, and the visit may be pushed back to next year.