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)