As many of the island's residents last night prepared to face a day of mourning for the thousands of people who lost their lives in the September 21 earthquake, the boulevard in front of the Presidential Office -- normally reserved for the October 10 National Day festivities -- was instead the scene of clashes between protesters and riot police.
What had been intended as a demonstration and overnight vigil began yesterday afternoon when members of a group calling itself the `921 Earthquake Disaster Victim Coalition' (921
By late last night, repeated negotiations had failed to produce any redress of the protesters' demands, though a low-level presidential office official promised to relay their message.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
Shortly after 11pm last night, riot police finally agreed to step back several meters to give the protesters room to move, after which they began to file out and back to their buses, ending the incident without violence.
The rioting earlier in the evening came on the heels of a last-minute decision by the Taipei city police to revoke the group's license to hold the vigil in front of the Presidential Office, despite having previously been approved.
A statement later issued by the police said that President Lee's visit to Taichung and the Emergency Administrative Order (
Police had warned that if victims from central Taiwan took part in the demonstration, they could be considered as unnecessarily stirring up trouble, spreading false information, and disturbing the peace -- and could face arrest.
Still, some 600 people -- many of them women and children, whose houses were ruined by the 921 earthquake from Taichung and Nantou counties -- defied the ban on the demonstration, demanding the government somehow restore their houses and speed up the process of compensation.
Several dozen early arrivals in the afternoon were able to get into the square in front of the presidential office before the police set up blockades.
They set up plastic lawn chairs on the street running to the office, while loudspeakers blasted speeches from nearby vehicles. Police directed traffic around the demonstrators.
Those in attendance pledged that they were determined to camp out in front of the Presidential Office regardless of police controls. "We'll be sleeping in tents in any case," said one demonstrator.
By the early evening, another two busloads of protesters were stopped by the police from entering the square. When they tried to do so, a short scuffle ensued between protesters and the police. In the five-minute clash, protesters were overpowered by the police and pushed back from the confrontation line.
Those who were already inside the blockaded area later went out to stand together with the other protesters, saying they did not want to be divided by the police.
Among their requests, the protesters demanded that building contractors and the government shoulder the responsibility for the collapse of their homes and rebuild them, and contractors who had wronged them by building sub- standard houses be punished quickly.
Protesters had also demanded to talk to Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲), president of the Academia Sinica and Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝), secretary-general of the presidential office. Police later rejected the demand to meet Huang, and claimed they did not have Lee's telephone number. Lee reportedly said later last evening that he would meet with protest representatives today.
"I was there today, when President Lee was chairing the meeting (in Tali). I believe Lee was sincere and concerned, but the residents need more than just someone to complain to," said one man from Taichung County.
"I had to fill out so many forms to collect compensation for my collapsed home," said another, "but I have gotten nothing."
"It has been a long time since I last saw the government suppress a demonstration with such severity," said a labor activist who had helped put on the demonstration.
Yesterday's actions followed what appeared to be a bid to placate the group when President Lee and Vice President Lien Chan (
Speaking at a meeting in a children's center in Tali, President Lee reassured those in attendance that the government would faithfully carry out its reconstruction efforts. He also pledged that reconstruction funds would be adequate, that no victims will be impoverished as a result of the earthquake, and that the central government would fully cooperate with local authorities to ensure that prosperity quickly returned to local areas.
President Lee also reiterated the government's harsh stance toward companies found liable for shoddy construction that led to damage during the quake. He reported that fines have been imposed on the property of 67 construction companies, and 52 owners have been forbidden to leave the country.
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