Marchers Demand That Premier Resign

Tens of thousands of Taiwanese marched Sunday to demand that Premier Lien Chan resign over a surge in violent crime.

Marchers, many of them children with their parents, carried placards scrawled with the words “Shame” and “Agony.” Estimates for the crowd ranged from 50,000 to 100,000.

One person was arrested after refusing to leave at the end of the protest, police said.

It was the second time this month that Taiwanese had gone to the streets to demand the ouster of the government and a public admission from President Lee Teng-hui that his government’s crime policies had failed.

The lifting of martial law in 1987 brought an increase in crime, and murders and kidnappings have increased - although Taiwan’s crime rate is still low compared to many Western nations.