TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s opposition-controlled legislature passed changes on Tuesday that are seen as favoring China and diminishing the power of the island's president.

The changes pushed by the opposition Nationalist Party and its allies give the body greater power to control budgets, including defense spending that the party has blocked in what many see as a concession to China.

The Nationalists officially back unification with China, from which Taiwan separated during a civil war in 1949. They took control of the legislature with a single-seat majority after elections in January, while the presidency went to Lai Ching-te of the Democratic Progressive Party, which favors Taiwan’s de facto independence from China.

Thousands of people gathered outside the legislature to protest the changes. The legislative chamber was festooned with banners promoting both sides in the dispute, while arguments on the floor broke into shouting and pushing matches.

DPP legislators accused deputies from the KMT and the minority Taiwan People’s Party of undermining Taiwan’s democracy by expanding the legislature's oversight of the executive branch.

China sends planes and ships near Taiwan on a daily basis in a campaign aimed at wearing down Taiwanese opposition to unification and at deteriorating its defenses, which are strongly backed by the U.S., despite a lack of formal diplomatic ties.