Pan-blue rallies yesterday again turned violent as protesters attempted to destroy the barricade seperating them from the Presi-dential Office.
Supporters of the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-People First Party (PFP) gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard for another demonstration, demanding a special task force be assembled to probe the election-eve assassination attempt on President Chen Shui-bian (
As the pan-blue's rally turned towards violence yesterday evening, KMT Secretary General (
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-Jeou (
While protestors had peacefully assembled in front of the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon, a confrontation between police and protestors broke out when protestors tore down the barricade blocking the protest at 6:07pm, and began knocking down scaffolding at 6:30pm.
Police began using water cannon against the crowds to put a halt to the violence at 7:05pm, and by 7:55pm, Ma ordered the police to step up their actions to deter illegal acts.
"The DPP has consistently worked to make improvements, and still, the pan-blue camp dares to make untrue accusations. If they do not take it back, the DPP will sue the KMT tomorrow," Lee saidin response to Lin's accusation.
While Lin and People First Party (PFP) Secretary General Tsai Chung-hsiung (
However, shortly after Lin and Tsai's departure, a second wave of violence commenced, with protestors picking up fallen stage scaffolding and attempting to charge at the police. Other demonstrators used wooden planks to set up a barricade against police lined up in front of the Presidential Office.
At 10:30pm, as the crowds grew more aggressive, police began fighting off protestors with shields and batons as the agitated protestors threw at least two Molotov cocktails at police and engaged in violent physical clashes.
The latest reports indicated that at least seven people had registered at National Taiwan University Hospital with protest-related injuries.
Yesterday's protest was the latest in the series of weekly demonstrations staged by the pan-blue camp since the alliance's presidential candidate, Lien and Soong lost to Chen during the March 20 election with a margin of less than 30,000 votes.
Although he has not been able to produce proof, Lien made claims about voting irregularities, calling the election unfair and refusing to concede defeat. Raising question about the attack on Chen on March 19 -- which the alliance claimed was an attempt to win sympathy votes -- Lien urged Chen to form an independent task force to investigate the shooting, in which bullets grazed Chen's stomach and Vice President Annette Lu's (呂秀蓮) knee.
At the protest yesterday, Lien stressed that his appeals were not self-serving, but were out of his heartfelt concern over the nation's democratization.
"We are not here to push this cause out of personal interest ... but to be the guardian angels of Taiwan's democracy," Lien told the crowd.
"The Republic of China does not need to cultivate a new dictator," Lien said.
Saying Chen was oblivious to the appeals of the people, Lien in his speech proposed holding a referendum to form an independent task force.
"Until the truth is known, Chen should not take part in the presidential inauguration on May 20," said Soong, who spoke after Lien. Soong called on the crowd to come back and gather at the square in front of the Presidential Office on May 19 if Chen insisted on holding the presidential inauguration -- as required by law -- before "the truth is revealed."
"No truth, no president!" Soong shouted, leading the crowd in chanting the slogan.
The alliance claimed the demonstration had drawn over 200,000 people, but wire agencies reported the police as saying 80,000 people attended the rally.
Also See Story:
Student protesters accuse president of lack of integrity
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft