Taiwan's Hualien county magistrate race has turned into a fight over a KMT lawmaker's budget cut, and it is bad news for the KMT's candidate there.

• Yu Shu-chen registered as the KMT's candidate for Hualien magistrate, flanked by Fu Kun-chi and current magistrate Hsu Chen-wei.
• The DPP is running the line "a vote for Yu Shu-chen is a vote for Weng Hsiao-ling," tying her to the fallout.
• Weng Hsiao-ling, a KMT at-large lawmaker, cut the presidential office's budget for buying Mid-Autumn gift boxes from 37 sheltered workshops that employ disabled workers, which caused public anger.
• Fu Kun-chi waved cameras away and said only "thank you" when asked whether Weng would hurt the campaign and whether the apology was sincere.
• Yu pitched a "golden decade" plan for Hualien, promising more building projects and social welfare, while local DPP figures urged voters to reject Fu's political machine.

Outlook: The gift-box row looks set to follow every KMT candidate through the local election campaign, and Fu's camp is trying to stay silent rather than defend it.