[News] Protests target Taiwan president
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/09/10/taiwan.protests.ap/index.html
Protests target Taiwan president
POSTED: 0620 GMT (1420 HKT), September 11, 2006
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) -- About 15,000 demonstrators marched under a
driving rain in downtown Taipei on Sunday in a second day of
protests aimed at pressuring Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian to
resign over a series of alleged corruption scandals.
The crowd was far fewer than organizers had hoped for.
Under a giant red balloon with the Chinese character for "shame,"
protesters chanted anti-Chen slogans and gave the "thumbs down"
gesture as they walked along a broad boulevard next to the
sprawling Presidential Office Building.
Many were clad in red to symbolize their anger with Chen's
government, which for the past six months has been on the
defensive over widespread charges of corruption and incompetence.
On Saturday, an estimated 90,000 people -- many of them office
workers and housewives -- kicked off the anti-Chen protests, which
local media called a "middle-class war against corruption."
That crowd was about half the size predicted by protest leader
Shih Ming-teh earlier in the week.
Shih, a former chairman of Chen's Democratic Progressive Party,
began Sunday's gathering with a call to supporters to continue the
struggle against the president.
"This will be a long battle," he said. "It won't be easy to bring
down Taiwan's most powerful man."
Office worker Mary Lee said she had come with her two young
daughters to take a personal stand against Chen's leadership.
"For months now Chen has claimed to be innocent but he cannot
prove it," she said. "We don't see how the dishonest and
incompetent leader can lead the country."
Chen's problems center on allegations that his family and inner
circle used their positions for personal financial gain.
In July, his son-in-law was indicted for alleged insider trading
involving a local development firm -- a charge he denies.
First lady Wu Shu-chen is also under investigation for allegedly
profiting from the transfer of an upscale department store to new
owners. Chen's office insists she was not involved.
The Presidential Office acknowledged last week that prosecutors
questioned Chen last month about the use of false invoices to
account for part of a secret fund used to sustain Taiwanese
diplomatic activities, but Chen denied any wrongdoing and insisted
he will serve out the duration of his term, which ends in May
2008.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or
redistributed.
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