Taiwan protesters set to end occupation of parliament

TAIPEI: Student activists were yesterday set to end their threeweek occupation of Taiwan’s parliament, but they vowed to press on with their bid to stop the government ratifying a contentious trade pact with China.

The demonstrators began dismantling the huge stacks of armchairs they used to barricade themselves in when they seized the chamber on March 18, in the first such occupation of Taiwan’s parliament in the island’s history.

By midday the dozens of remaining protesters — whose numbers have dwindled from the 200 who initially stormed the building — had packed up their sleeping bags, taken down the posters they had plastered all over the chamber, and even repainted the walls.

“We’re doing the final cleanup of parliament. Everything should be done by 4.00pm,” Shih Yen-ting, a spokesman for the protesters dubbing themselves the ‘Sunflower’ movement, told AFP ahead of the departure scheduled for 1000 GMT.

“We’re putting the final touches on our exit.”

Outside parliament, the protesters — who oppose a trade pact that they say will damage their economy and leave Taiwan vulnerable to political pressure from Beijing — were seen taking down their tents and posters, and hosing down the roads.

The activists will hold a simple ceremony half- an-hour before their departure to mark an end to the sit-in, Shih said. — AFP