TAIPEI, Taiwan — Thousands of angry Taiwanese demonstrators protesting last month’s election results clashed with police yesterday as they tried to storm the barbed-wire barriers protecting President Chen Shui-bian’s office.
The violence erupted after more than 100,000 protesters marched in Taipei to demand an independent inquiry into an election-eve assassination attempt on Mr. Chen, which opposition supporters suspect was staged to win sympathy votes.
In the worst clash since the election, some 2,000 protesters used a large scaffold as a battering ram and tried to charge through the iron barriers and barbed wire that protect the president’s office.
They threw at least one gasoline bomb, tables, chairs, placards and bottles before water cannons and about 8,000 helmeted police wielding wooden batons and shields forced them back. At least two protesters were sent to a hospital with bloodied foreheads.
“Chen Shui-bian step down. We want the truth. Go democracy,” the mob shouted in the third large protest since Mr. Chen narrowly defeated Nationalist leader Lien Chan in the March 20 election.
Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou said 96 persons were injured in the clash, including 55 policemen. Thirteen protesters were arrested, of whom six had criminal records, he said.
Responding to accusations that the police crackdown was overly harsh, Mr. Ma said it was unfortunate but unavoidable.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Lien led a peaceful rally demanding an independent inquiry into the shooting, in which Mr. Chen was lightly wounded. The president has rejected demands for an inquiry, so Nationalists are calling for a referendum on the issue.
“In the last three weeks, Mr. Chen Shui-bian has shied away from, avoided and ignored the people’s demands,” Mr. Lien told a sea of supporters waving flags and tooting horns in the afternoon.
“This is not a long-term strategy. You cannot forever hide behind the iron barriers and barbed wire,” he said to Mr. Chen.
Police estimated about 120,000 people at the rally, double the number at last weekend’s event but fewer than the 500,000 who took to the streets on March 27 in Taiwan’s largest protest.
The crowd began to break up after Mr. Lien left, when the violence started.
On March 19, Mr. Chen received a gash across the stomach and Vice President Annette Lu was wounded in the knee when an unknown assailant with a homemade handgun fired two bullets at them as they campaigned in the southern city of Tainan.
Mr. Chen won re-election the following day by 30,000 votes out of more than 13 million cast.
“The presidential election is over,” Mr. Chen told a meeting of his Democratic Progressive Party.
“The election dispute has entered the legal process, and everyone should have the biggest confidence and patience in the fairness of our judicial system,” he said, referring to opposition lawsuits seeking a recount and a new election.
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