Protests continue into day five

Protests continued outside the KMT headquarters for the fifth straight day yesterday, with reports that party chairman Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) announce his resignation tomorrow plans failing to scatter the hundreds of demonstrators.

Protesters yesterday said they would not leave until Lee appeased them and stepped down, although the crowd was smaller and less visibly agitated than during the past few days.

"We just want Lee Teng-hui to show his face and take responsibility for the election defeat. We've been here for four days, we rang the bell at his house on Saturday night, and he still hasn't come out," said one protester.

"Hsu Hsin-liang (許信良) and Shih Ming-teh (施明德) both stepped down as chairmen of the DPP when their party lost previous elections. Why not Lee? This is the way democracy should work," said Chang Tzu-yu (張子玉), a 71-year-old mainlander who had attended the protests for four days in a row.

A member of the riot police, speaking through a bullhorn behind a water cannon, asked the protesters to "let traffic return to normal," and threatened to again unleash water cannons on the crowd if it didn't comply.

Many among the crowd yesterday denounced media reports that they were "rioters."

"We're not rioting, we're protesting. You see, there are lots of kids, lots of old people, and no one has brought weapons," said one woman who spent her lunch break from work at the protests.

Top aide to KMT presidential candidate Lien Chan (連戰), Chen Shei-saint (陳學聖), said Lee would announce his resignation plans at a Central Standing Committee meeting tomorrow, but the reports have not yet been confirmed.

Earlier this week, Lee announced that he would step down in September, when the party would ballot of all its members and elect his replacement.

Resigning immediately would endanger the party's financial assets, he said.

Independent presidential candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜) appeared before the crowd asking people to go home when he visited the protest site -- in front of National Taiwan University Hospital -- late on Tuesday night.

Soong has repeatedly denied reports that he organized or encouraged the protests, although the fact remains many of his supporters have been among the crowds.

"I think everyone in the country knows why you're here," Soong said to the demonstrators. "Maybe you can now use other means to get your message across," he said.

Hospital staff, patients and their family members have complained about the noise from the protests. Both Soong and Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) have been among visitors to the site asking protesters to disperse to allow hospital functions and the flow of traffic in the area to return to normal.