After Taiwan's KMT-TPP camp stripped out the entire state affairs fund of the Presidential Office, the office was forced to cancel an order for 15,000 Mid-Autumn gift boxes placed with 37 sheltered workshops — bad news for groups representing people with disabilities, and a development that has since escalated into a political storm of mutual recrimination between the blue and green camps.

• The Presidential Office had originally planned to buy 15,000 boxes of mooncakes, but with the funding cut to zero, the order could only be cancelled.
• Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen turned the argument around, saying it was the president who "abandoned the order," and said the Taichung City Government would take over the purchase.
• Writer Chao Hsiao-hui sharply criticised this as a blatant distortion of the facts, since the budget was cut on a motion by KMT legislator Weng Hsiao-ling.
• Chao also revisited the Chung Lien tainted oil case, saying the Taichung City Government had failed in its duties yet shifted the blame onto Lai Ching-te, and stated bluntly that she was thoroughly disappointed in Lu Shiow-yen.
• She went on to criticise the general climate within the KMT, saying that party members who dare to speak the truth end up expelled or suspended.

Outlook: The sheltered workshops' orders may be picked up by local governments in the short term, but the political fighting triggered by budget cuts and freezes will only intensify ahead of the 2028 election.