Democracy at 4am

Approximately 200 students occupied the parliament in Taipei on Tuesday evening to protest against a proposed trade deal with China.

Police and protesters have been engaged in a standoff in Taiwan's legislature after students stormed the building to demand the government scrap a trade deal with China.

What began as a demonstration has led to the storming of the Taiwanese Parliament. Students have been occupying the assembly building since Tuesday evening, protesting against a trade agreement with Beijing.

Hundreds of opponents of a trade pact with China demonstrated in and around Taiwan’s legislature Wednesday, in the most serious challenge to date to President Ma Ying-jeou’s policy of moving the democratic island of 23 million people economically closer to Communist China.

The agreement was passed without proper procedure; that's why the people are angry,

“We, a non-partisan group of students, civic activists, and people from all walks of life, demand that President Ma immediately respond to our demands on the rejection of the service trade pact, and the formulation of a monitoring mechanism for cross-strait agreements within the current legislative session,”

Protesters say pact will damage Taiwan's economy and leave it vulnerable to political pressure from Beijing

Some of the police sympathize with the students and are reluctant to be here but this is their job. They have even been reminding us to wear enough clothing and to remember to eat.

Demonstrators who have occupied Taiwan’s legislature since last week expanded their protest of a trade deal with China on Sunday evening by invading the government building nearby that houses the offices of the prime minister.

Hundreds break into parliament building to protest against deal that will lead to greater economic integration with China

Taiwanese police have clashed with hundreds of students who occupied government headquarters to protest at a trade deal with China.

Authorities launch violent crackdown on demonstrators after Taipei refuses to shelve trade pact with China

After the events in Ukraine over the past month, the news from Taiwan feels eerily familiar.

While political protests in Taiwan are common, violent confrontations between demonstrators and police are relatively rare, reflecting the high level of civil discourse that has taken hold of Taiwanese society since the island completed an impressive transition from one-party dictatorship to robust democracy in the mid-1990s.

Baton-wielding riot police on Monday cleared Taiwan's Cabinet offices of scores of angry protesters opposed to a trade pact with China, escalating tensions over the island's rapidly developing ties with the communist mainland.

Police in Taiwan have forcibly removed activists occupying the island nation's main government offices. But protesters remain holed up in parliament, which they have blockaded in protest against a trade pact with China.

Taipei's police evicted dozens of protesters from the cabinet building as tensions continued to spiral between the government and students occupying two major government buildings over a controversial trade pact with China.

A weeklong standoff between Taiwan's government and protesters showed no signs of easing, after antiriot police used water cannons to evict protesters from the cabinet compound and student groups urged the public to stage an island-wide strike.

Police in Taiwan fired high-pressure water cannons Monday on hundreds of demonstrators who broke into the country's Cabinet compound to protest the liberalization of trade with political rival China, handing the island president one of his worst crises in six years.

Protesters, including many students, continue their occupation of Taiwan's main legislature, demonstrating against a new trade pact that would strengthen ties with China

Riot police are sent in to evict anti-trade-pact protesters occupying the government headquarters

A trade deal struck with China threatens economic as well as political dominance from across the Taiwan Strait

"We are tired, very tired. But we will continue on for democracy," a spokesperson for the movement, Lin Fei-fan told CNN on Monday.

A trade deal struck with China threatens economic as well as political dominance from across the Taiwan Strait

“It should have been handled with more caution. With China you never know about these things. You say this is a good deal, but good for whom?”\n---\n“We have welcomed steps taken by both sides on the Taiwan Strait -- that they’ve taken to reduce tensions and improve relations between Taipei and Beijing.”

Meeting Could Be a Significant Step Toward Ending a Weeklong Standoff

Ma is willing to meet the students to discuss the services trade pact as long as there’s no preconditions.

Student protests in one of Asia’s most stable democracies are facing violent police crackdown. The effects could echo throughout the region.

Taiwan's main opposition on Wednesday denounced as "unforgivable" the police use of force to dislodge demonstrators who stormed the government headquarters in protest at a contentious trade agreement with China.

If the students succeed, it could mean a further democratisation of Taiwan, with additional safeguards to let the people, not any political party, decide the fate of the island.

In Taiwan, students have taken over several chambers of the parliament building, and at one point, tens of thousands were protesting in the streets. The triggering event was a proposed trade deal with mainland China, being pushed quickly through the legislature.

Down with undemocratic Kuomintang rule For a Taiwan-wide student strike as the next step!

The occupation of Taiwan’s legislature by students protesting the handling of a trade pact with China has been condemned by Chinese state media and in many comments online, but some democracy advocates on the Chinese mainland have endorsed the movement, calling it an inspiration to their efforts.

Students occupy Taiwan’s legislature in protest against a free-trade pact with China

Why Taiwan’s youths are worried their freedom of expression and very futures are at stake

“Under the uniforms, we are all Taiwanese,”

Students who seized Taiwan’s legislature more than a week ago won’t accept an offer to meet with President Ma Ying-jeou until he shows he better understands their demands, which reflected the division that remains between Ma and the student

Students Reject President's Offer to Meet Until Their Demands Are Met

And so you have a lot of preconceptions about people on the other side. It takes time ...to see your used-to-be enemy the way they really are. It's not an easy task.

The protests over the past week leave Taiwan in an awkward position.

This citizen occupation of the legislature is the first in Taiwan’s history.

Protesters who occupied legislature increase their focus on island's president

The ambitions of Ma Ying-jeou, Taiwan’s president, collide with popular suspicion of China

For Mr Ma, the deal will not only provide a boost to Taiwan's economy, but also help take a further step towards achieving a key agenda of his presidency.

At least 100,000 people have taken to the streets of Taiwan's capital Taipei, to protest against a controversial trade agreement with China.

Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators gathered in central Taipei on Sunday in support of students who have occupied Taiwan’s parliament for two weeks to protest a trade pact and closer ties with mainland China.

Ma's bigger misstep was assuming his people would go along quietly with his Politburo-esque maneuver.

The level of public trust with President Ma and his government is really low throughout the country, and the review of this pact has been very cursory.

Gangster-turned-politician Chang An-le now appears to be a factor in the ongoing crisis at the legislature.

The demonstrators said they feared the deal would give Beijing too much influence over the country’s economy.

Protestors in Taiwan's so-called Sunflower Movement are hunkering down as anti-government rallies hit the two-week mark. The WSJ's Ramy Inocencio speaks with Jenny Hsu in Taipei on a government-backed trade deal that critics say favor Beijing.

The successful occupation of the legislature shows that peaceful unification in the future is a pipe dream.

Chang An-le said the students against the pact did not ‘deserve to be Chinese,’ only to be told that ‘we are not Chinese... We are Taiwanese’