1,500 Activists, Police Square Off in Taiwan

About 1,500 opposition activists demanding democratic reforms continued to face off against riot police in downtown Taipei at noon today after a tense overnight protest.

Police backed by motorized tear-gas launchers and water cannon erected barbed-wire barricades Monday evening on three sides of the protesters, blocking any movement toward government buildings.

The opposition Democratic Progressive Party, which organized the protest, had received permits for a march through Taipei but did not have permission to stay in the street overnight.

“We decided to stay here to give more pressure to the authorities,” Democratic Progressive Party Chairman Hsu Hsin-liang said Monday evening as the protest began. “There is no other way to achieve our goals, or, I would say, the people’s goals. . . . It is not enough to express your wish. You have to show a strong will.”

About 3,000 protesters launched the demonstration Monday evening, after a march through Taipei, but about half had drifted away by the time the morning rush hour began today.

The opposition is demanding constitutional revisions that would provide for direct presidential elections, a reform also supported by the liberal wing of the ruling Nationalist Party, including President Lee Teng-hui. Key conservatives within the Nationalist Party have so far succeeded in blocking any such change. Under Taiwan’s constitution, the president is chosen by the National Assembly.

The mood among the protesters mixed a festive air with high tension. Loudspeaker trucks blared out martial-sounding opposition songs, while demonstrators ate meals Monday evening from plastic foam boxes and spread out green plastic sheets to prepare for the night on the asphalt. Surrounding the protesters on three sides were hundreds of riot police.

“We have been calling for democracy earlier than other countries like the Philippines, but they are already democratic,” complained one of the protesters, a middle-aged man willing to give only his surname, Wu.

Wu said he was not frightened because he did not think protesters would be seriously injured even if police used force to clear the street.

Chen Ching-yuan, a college student, said he joined the protest because “we hope Taiwan can have a more progressive society.”

“We want to select a president to serve us, the people of Taiwan,” Chen said. “But we can’t. So our only way is to demonstrate. . . . In the hearts of many Taiwanese, they want a revolution. They want it like in the Philippines--through people power.”