TAIPEI, Taiwan - President Ma Ying-jeou was inaugurated into a second
term in office yesterday amid slumping poll ratings and mass protests.
Some 40,000 people took to the streets Saturday afternoon in a colorful
demonstration that brought traffic in parts of the city to a virtual
standstill ahead of the president’s inaugural address yesterday morning.
Thousands of protesters staged a sit in on the main Kaitekalan Boulevard
to express their dissatisfaction at at the policies of Ma and the
ruling Kuomintang party.
Demonstrators said they were angered by Ma’s energy reforms, which have
seen recent hikes in the price of fuel and electricity, rising national
debt and the president’s intent to lift a ban on US beef imports despite
concern over use of the leanness enhancing drug ractopamine.