Taiwan's opposition-led budget cuts have cancelled a large Mid-Autumn gift-box order from sheltered workshops, hurting disabled workers and setting off a blame fight between the Presidential Office and Taichung's mayor.

• The KMT and TPP froze and cut the Presidential Office's discretionary fund, forcing it to cancel 15,000 gift boxes ordered from 37 sheltered workshops and disability groups nationwide.
• Taichung mayor Lu Shiu-yen said the president "abandoned" the orders and had the city government buy them instead, covering five local groups and about 1,650 boxes.
• Reporters pressed her on the fact that the opposition's own budget cuts came first — she did not answer.
• She shifted the argument to spending, saying the central government passed a record NT$3 trillion budget yet still cannot solve problems.
• The workshops had already bought materials, leaving them stuck with costs before the city stepped in.

Outlook: The row is likely to keep escalating as a proxy fight over the budget cuts, with more local governments pressured to absorb cancelled orders.