Taiwan's opposition-controlled legislature has slashed and frozen large parts of this year's central government budget, a move critics call political payback that will hobble the presidency and several agencies.

• The KMT and TPP cut and froze most of the president's discretionary fund, leaving only a small share usable.
• Unfreezing the rest requires the premier to sign off on a law the government considers unconstitutional.
• The cuts block routine presidential duties like troop bonuses, disaster relief payments, and official gifts.
• Agency budgets for public media, cultural content, the broadcasting regulator, and the ill-gotten party assets committee were also gutted.
• Government communications budgets were slashed, weakening Taiwan's ability to counter Chinese influence campaigns.

Outlook: The new legislative session opens with the budget fight unresolved, and the government is likely to keep pushing back on the freezes.