Taiwan's National Day ceremony turned into a quiet show of cross-party courtesy, a mildly positive signal in an otherwise tense standoff between President Lai Ching-te and the opposition-controlled legislature.

• Taiwan People's Party chair Huang Kuo-chang walked over to shake hands and chat with former president Chen Shui-bian at the ceremony in front of the Presidential Office.
• Former vice presidents Annette Lu and Chen Chien-jen also attended and were seated together, while former president Tsai Ing-wen skipped the event for a trip to the United States.
• KMT chair Cheng Li-wun stayed away too, attending a flag-raising in Kaohsiung instead; People First Party's James Soong and the New Power Party's Claire Wang did show up.
• Huang brought eight TPP lawmakers and said his party puts the country ahead of the party, but he also pushed back at Lai's demand that the legislature quickly pass next year's budget.
• His counter-demand: the government must promulgate and enforce the laws the legislature has already passed — the core of the current fight between the two branches.

Outlook: expect the budget and law-promulgation fight to keep dragging on, with the handshake unlikely to change the legislature's bargaining stance.