Taiwan police disperse protesters

2.45pm

TAIPEI - Taiwan riot police have pushed and dragged away protesters from outside the office of President Chen Shui-bian, ending a week-long sit-in over a bitterly contested election.

Some minor scuffles broke out. There was not much violence but police strapped some demonstrators into strait jackets and carried them away.

The police operation on Sunday came just hours after Chen agreed to a full judicial recount of the March 20 poll, in which he defeated his Nationalist Party rival Lien Chan by just 0.2 per cent, or about 30,000 votes out of more than 13 million cast.

The opposition has refused to accept the outcome and protesters have demonstrated non-stop at the president's office since. The crisis has paralysed one of Asia's most vibrant economies and drawn threats from arch-rival China.

On Saturday, about half a million supporters of Lien thronged the streets of Taipei, demanding a recount and an inquiry into an assassination attempt on Chen on the day before the election that the opposition has said cost it victory.

Chen said on Saturday he would agree to a recount if his opponent filed a lawsuit to contest the result. There was no immediate response from Lien, although a spokesman from his party was quoted by the local China Times newspaper as saying the opposition would file the lawsuit on Monday.

The crowd outside the presidential palace had dwindled to about 200 people by daybreak on Sunday when helmeted police, following orders from Chen to clear the square, pushed and dragged the protesters away.

"Is it wrong to love your country," shouted one woman, crying as she was sandwiched between two policemen and escorted away.

Outnumbered by the police, some protesters left reluctantly but calmly, while others struggled briefly. Some joined another sit-in at the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall nearby.

The end of the week-long demonstration outside the presidential palace is a relief for many Taiwan residents, who had been alarmed by China's vow that it would not sit idly by if protests spiralled out of control.

MEETING ON MONDAY?

Aware of the risk posed by an angry response from China, which regularly threatens to use force to recover an island it claims as a renegade province, Chen also offered to meet Lien on Monday, with no strings attached.

China regards Chen and his pro-independence supporters with grave suspicion and would have preferred a victory by Lien, who promotes a more conciliatory policy towards Taiwan's biggest trade partner, analysts say.

Many believe the closely fought election was swung by the attempted assassination on the day before voting. No arrest has been made but police are seeking a balding middle-aged man in yellow jacket and blue trousers who left the scene in haste.

Chen's voice quivered with rage when he described his humiliation at suspicions he staged the mysterious shooting.

"I have never staged this shooting incident and there is nothing to hide. The investigation will be fair and transparent," Chen told his first news conference since winning another four-year term. "I do not want to bear this bad name any longer."

Chen vowed to step down at once if his rival could prove the failed assassination in which a bullet gashed his abdomen had been staged and challenged Lien to find the world's best sniper to re-enact the shooting.

"If you can't do it or you are afraid of doing it, then shut up," he told Lien and his running mate, James Soong.

Chen and Vice President Annette Lu were both slightly wounded by two bullets from a homemade gun as they campaigned in southern Tainan on the afternoon before the election.

- REUTERS