Tens of thousands of people opposed to Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian took to the streets on Saturday in response to calls for weeklong demonstrations aimed at unseating the scandal-plagued leader.
The rally, one of the largest to date, saw a steady flow of people streaming in during the day to the site in front of the presidential palace before the event began in the late afternoon.
Observers put the crowd at between 30,000 and 50,000 when the demonstration officially began in the late afternoon, but TV reported the crowd was up to 80,000. Campaigners had said they expected between 240,000 and 300,000.
Organisers said the mass protest was triggered by public frustration over a series of scandals involving Chen's family and officials in his administration.
On Saturday, Chen returned to his hometown in the southern county in Tainan, meeting his supporters and praying for his political survival. "Everything we do, we do it for Taiwan's democracy and freedom ... We cannot let people destroy this," Chen told his supporters in Tainan, responding to the protest in Taipei.
Chen and his wife have been questioned over the use of the presidential office's state affairs budget, while son in-law Chao Chien-ming has been charged with insider training. Several high-level officials have also stepped down prematurely this year due to a series of corruption scandals.
Chen's office has said the president would neither step down nor meet the crowd. He rejects the allegations of corruption and says he did not pocket any money from the state affairs budget.
In Taipei, chants of "A-bian step down," a reference to Chen's nickname, broke out occasionally, and people wore shirts with similar themes and waved balloons in the shape of a thumbs-down. On Friday, about 4,000 people demonstrated in Taipei to express support for Chen, who was elected in 2000 and 2004, and for Taiwan's independence from China.
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