Week in Review

1)

The top story from this past week was that Hundreds of protesters occupied the legislature to stop the review of a controversial agreement with China.

The protestors, mostly students, broke through security barriers and took over the legislative chamber Tuesday night. It is the first such occupation of the building in Taiwan's history. The protestors called on the legislature to review the pact clause by clause.

Just a day before students took action, lawmakers from the ruling Kuomintang passed an initial review of the agreement, going back on a promise to undertake a clause-by-clause review. The ruling party holds a majority in the legislature.

The controversial trade in services agreement with China was signed last June and has yet to be approved by the legislature. While supporters say that the agreement will further liberalize Taiwan's economy, critics say that it will annihilate the country's service industry and open up Taiwan to a hostile regime.

On Wednesday the standoff continued. More protestors gathered outside the legislature in support of the students. President of the legislature, Wang Jin-pyng, said he regrets the protestors' actions.

2)

Also this past week, Legislature President Wang Jin-pyng has ruled out using police to remove protestors from the legislative assembly.

Speaking on Thursday, Wang said that the issue at hand is not whether to use police force, but public safety and the safety of the students. Wang said that he will search for a suitable way of resolving the standoff.