Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
They had good reason, they said, to believe that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) had cheated during the election.
On Saturday night thousands of Lien-Soong supporters rioted at prosecutors' offices in Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung. Initially, they were led by PFP lawmakers and intended to petition prosecutors and judges to seize the ballots and organize a recount. However, the crowds gradually got out of control as some protesters began to smash their way through road blocks set up by the police.
PHOTO: HSIEH FENG-CHIU, TAIPEI TIMES
The series of incidents began in Taichung, after PFP Lawmaker Shen Chih-hui (
The nearly 1,000 protesters then started to attack the prosecutors' office, smashing the glass doors.
Shortly after the incident in Taichung, the Kaohsiung crowd, led by PFP Lawmaker Chiu Yi (
While the police were trying to calm the protesters, Chiu, however, used a speaker to whip up the mob's anger by shouting that the police were trying to interfere with the mob's "free will to speak out."
In Taipei City, another crowd of protesters surrounded the Taiwan High Court and asked the court to immediately accept and implement their application to seize all the ballots and recount them.
Although attacked by some protesters, the police did not force the angry mobs to disperse and no arrests were made
The Taiwan High Court decided to accept the application and asked Taiwan's 21 district courts to carry out the order.
As of press time yesterday, district courts in Changhua, Penghu, Keelung, Taoyuan, Kinmen, Kaohsiung, Chiayi and Taipei have all completed the order.
According to Article 104 of the Public Officials Election and Recall Law (
As of yesterday, the Lien-Soong camp's Kaohsiung campaign headquarters had proposed nine reasons as evidence to show that the DPP had cheated through the presidential election.
"We are just following the order to seize the ballots. However, our superior officers have not given a deadline to recount them," a spokesman for the Taipei District Court said.
Upon the approval by the Taipei City Government, Lien-Soong supporters filled up Ketagalan Boulevard (凱達格蘭大道) in front of the Presidential Office to continue their protest from 3pm yesterday. The protest was supposed to disperse at 10pm.
Also See Stories:
Kaohsiung mayor asks for calm
Hu captures Taichung for the blues
Religious leaders call on the public to respect result
Civic group proud over number of invalid ballots
Lien demands an immediate recount
Ma finally tells protesters they should go home
Pan-blue protest reminiscent of 2000 riot
DPP warns its members not to provoke pan-blues
Yu says demonstrators are `barking up the wrong tree'
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS