Taiwan's central government budget for this year has finally become law after months of delay, but President Lai Ching-te is pushing back against opposition-led cuts to government salaries — a fresh sign of gridlock between the presidency and the legislature.

• Lai signed the budget today, more than eight months late; the legislature was supposed to pass it by the end of last year but only did so in mid-August.
• Lai added two written notes: government salaries are legally protected spending that lawmakers should not cut or freeze, and money agencies spent before the budget was published was legal and should be handled properly.
• The opposition-controlled legislature froze Premier Cho Jung-tai's pay from September through December and cut salaries for officials at the committee handling assets seized from the former KMT party-state.
• The fight is about political control, not money: the opposition is using the budget to punish the ruling DPP, while Lai is framing the cuts as an attack on civil servants' constitutional right to their jobs.

Outlook: Expect more clashes over the budget, and possibly a court challenge, as Lai's government looks for ways to work around the salary freezes.