About a half million people gathered in Taipei Saturday in
protest over the "unfair election", demanding a recount of votes
and truth about the mysterious shooting on March 19, in which
leaders of the Taiwan region were wounded.
Protesters from other parts of Taiwan island began to enter
Taipei on Saturday morning to protest what they call the "unfair
election" on March 20. They joined other protesters who have been
in a sit-in on the avenue before the seat of the leader of Taiwan
authorities for the seventh consecutive day.
Early in the afternoon, the avenue and neighboring streets were
jammed with protesters waving slogans and flags.
The peaceful protest, which started officially at 14:00, was
launched by the opposition coalition of Kuomintang and the People
First Party. The election committee of Taiwan determined that the
coalition lost the March 20 election of the leaders of Taiwan
region by a margin of only 0.22 percent.
Addressing the rally, Lien Chan, chairman of Kuomintang,
reiterated his charges against election irregularities.
Opposition leaders have said the election was unfair due to vote
irregularities and the mysterious shooting incident on March 19, in
which Chen Shui-bian and his running mate were wounded. The
opposition also demanded a recount of the vote and election results
be nullified.
The protest ended peacefully 17:30 (Beijing Time).
(Xinhua News Agency March 28, 2004)