Thousands of angry supporters of failed independent candidate James Soong (
With an estimated crowd of 3,000 people besieging KMT headquarters last night, Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou announced late last night he would go immediately to Lee's residence to tell him of the crowds' demands.
Earlier in the day, several luxury sedans used by high-level KMT officials were blocked and smashed by protesters as they attempted to approach the KMT's headquarters at the intersection of Jenai and Chungshan South roads.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Hsu Li-teh (
Riot police resorted to using water cannons several times throughout the day in an attempt to disperse the crowd, causing sporadic clashes and minor injures among the crowd.
By press time, the streets around the KMT headquarters were still occupied with thousands of demonstrators.
The protest was a continuation of activities that began late Saturday night at KMT headquarters after the election result was formally announced.
The protesters then moved to President Lee Teng-hui's Taipei residence around midnight.
Protesters said the spontaneous gathering arose because of their anger at being "fooled" by Lee Teng-hui. "Were it not for Lee Teng-hui, Lien would not have so few votes. He is obviously supporting Chen [Shui-bian]," said one protester.
"Lee step down! Lee step down!" shouted the crowd. Several agitated protesters argued and clashed with police. But volunteers speaking into microphones urged their case. "We are not a mob, we are just expressing the fact [Chen's victory] was unfair!" one shouted.
As the crowd waited in front of Lee's residence in the early hours of yesterday morning, volunteers took turns to deliver speeches -- also blaming the defeat of James Soong on Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and former Control Yuan President Chen Li-an (陳履安).
Both men had supported Lien Chan in the campaign.
Although the protest died down for a while, more people began gathering at noon yesterday, when crowds heard the KMT had called an emergency meeting of its Central Standing Committee.
When party officials approached the headquarter's Jenai Road entrance, crowds began to strike their cars with flag poles and air horns. Some even used hammers to hit the rear windows of the cars. Soon, windows were smashed and some protesters used poles to attack people inside the vehicles.
The 70-year-old Hsu Li-teh was dragged from his car and hit several times, falling to the ground.
Legislative speaker Wang Chin-pyng (
"Lee sold out the KMT and sold out the country! He destroyed the party, because he intended Chen to win!" yelled Wang Yueh-chu (王月珠), a 40-year old Soong supporter who said she had supported the KMT since she was ten years old.
"It's so unfair! Some media were biased when reporting Soong's news," said another protester, Wang Tsuai-feng (
Late in the afternoon, when the KMT meeting was concluding, police again turned on water cannons to disperse the crowd, which was trying to block Lee Teng-hui and other party officials' cars from leaving the building.
The water cleared the crowd on Hsinyi Road, the building's exit, and opened a path for Lee and others officials' cars to pass.
Riot police also arrested several protesters who threw eggs and stones at police.
Several elderly protesters also complained of being hit over the head by police batons.
Lee's departure from the area did little to budge the crowd, however, as more and more demonstrators arrived on the scene.
Ma Ying-jeou appeared late last night to give them an explanation of the KMT's and Soong's defeat.
"I understand your insecurity and grievances. I promise to deliver your message to chairman Lee, and to advise him to seriously consider quitting [the party chairmanship] immediately," Ma told the crowd.
Ma also promised to ask the KMT's Central Standing Committee to quit collectively and seek reform of the party.
LIMITS: While China increases military pressure on Taiwan and expands its use of cognitive warfare, it is unwilling to target tech supply chains, the report said US and Taiwan military officials have warned that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could implement a blockade within “a matter of hours” and need only “minimal conversion time” prior to an attack on Taiwan, a report released on Tuesday by the US Senate’s China Economic and Security Review Commission said. “While there is no indication that China is planning an imminent attack, the United States and its allies and partners can no longer assume that a Taiwan contingency is a distant possibility for which they would have ample time to prepare,” it said. The commission made the comments in its annual
DETERMINATION: Beijing’s actions toward Tokyo have drawn international attention, but would likely bolster regional coordination and defense networks, the report said Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration is likely to prioritize security reforms and deterrence in the face of recent “hybrid” threats from China, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said. The bureau made the assessment in a written report to the Legislative Yuan ahead of an oral report and questions-and-answers session at the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The key points of Japan’s security reforms would be to reinforce security cooperation with the US, including enhancing defense deployment in the first island chain, pushing forward the integrated command and operations of the Japan Self-Defense Forces and US Forces Japan, as
INTERCEPTION: The 30km test ceiling shows that the CSIST is capable of producing missiles that could stop inbound missiles as they re-enter the atmosphere Recent missile tests by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST) show that Taiwan’s missiles are capable of intercepting ballistic missiles as they re-enter the atmosphere and pose a significant deterrent to Chinese missile threats, former Hsiung Feng III missile development project chief engineer Chang Cheng (張誠) said yesterday. The military-affiliated institute has been conducting missile tests, believed to be related to Project Chiang Kung (強弓) at Pingtung County’s Jiupeng Military Base, with many tests deviating from past practices of setting restriction zones at “unlimited” and instead clearly stating a 30.48km range, Chang said. “Unlimited” restrictions zones for missile tests is
PUBLIC SAFETY: The nationwide distribution campaign aims to enhance society’s overall understanding of threats and bolster defense awareness, an official said The latest edition of the National Public Safety Guide is being mailed to all citizens starting today to foster public awareness of self-defense in the event of war or natural disasters, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. “The guides will be disseminated to the public to enhance society’s overall understanding of threats and bolster defense awareness, demonstrating the government’s emphasis on people’s safety and its determination to pursue self-defense,” All-out Defense Mobilization Agency Director Shen Wei-chih (沈威志) said at the ministry’s news conference. The nationwide distribution campaign was planned according to President Lai William’s (賴清德) Sept. 20 directive, he said, adding
RSS