Taiwan's overseas community groups in Indonesia are pushing back against lawmakers who want to cut funding for overseas Chinese affairs, a fight that pits the ruling party's outreach spending against opposition scrutiny.

• Taiwanese business and community groups in Indonesia signed a joint statement backing Overseas Community Affairs Council head Hsu Chia-ching.
• Hsu has been under fire from lawmakers over her foreign travel and the money spent on it.
• The groups say cutting or freezing the council's budget without proper review would hurt services for Taiwanese abroad.
• They argue the damage would spread to the informal international network Taiwan spent years building.
• The statement asks lawmakers on both sides to put national interest ahead of party politics when the budget comes up.

Outlook: The legislature still has to vote on the council's budget, and the pressure campaign is unlikely to change the opposition's math.