The opposition KMT-TPP camp in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan has cut and frozen the Presidential Office's State Affairs Fund — bad news for disaster-stricken households, military personnel and sheltered workshops.

• This year's State Affairs Fund was originally only NT$30 million; with NT$10 million cut and NT$20 million frozen, it has effectively been reduced to zero.
• As a result, the Presidential Office cannot pay for the Mid-Autumn Festival gift boxes it ordered from 37 sheltered workshops nationwide, and the orders have had to be cancelled.
• KMT councillors countered that the Presidential Office could send fewer gifts to others and give priority to disadvantaged groups, but with the budget entirely cut there is no room to move funds around.
• Extra meal subsidies to reward the military at Mid-Autumn Festival, and presidential condolence payments for the flooding in the south, may now be impossible to disburse.
• Before the Legislative Yuan passed the general budget on 14 August, the Presidential Office could still spend according to last year's standards, but that route was closed once the resolution took effect.

Outlook: whether the budget can be unfrozen depends on the continuing tussle in the Legislative Yuan; in the short term, the president may have to attend condolence events empty-handed.