Taiwan's opposition-controlled legislature has frozen the premier's pay, a clash that is bad for the stability of the island's government and could spread to other offices.

• Taiwan's legislature froze Premier Cho Jung-tai's salary for September through December, and he says he has not been paid.
• Cho calls the move unlawful, arguing the constitution and the law make political appointees' pay a fixed, protected budget item that cannot be cut or frozen.
• His warning: if a premier's pay can be frozen, so can a minister's — and local councils could start doing the same to mayors.
• The freeze came with a condition that the cabinet enact laws it refused to countersign, which Cho says is now impossible under the deadline for publishing laws.
• A 2005 court ruling struck down a similar move against judges' pay, giving the cabinet precedent on its side.

Outlook: Cho wants the legislature to pass the supplementary budget by late November, warning that welfare payments stall if it fails — not because the cabinet refuses, but because there would be no money to spend.