Tens of thousands protest against contentious Taiwan parliament reforms

TAIPEI — Tens of thousands of people took to the streets around Taiwan's parliament on Friday (May 24) to demonstrate against contested parliamentary reforms, in a protest also marked by anger over China's perceived influence on the island's democracy.

The rally outside parliament, following one on Tuesday, came on the same day China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, carried out a second day of war games around the island Beijing has said were launched to punish Taiwan's new president, Lai Ching-te, who it calls a "separatist".

Lai's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is trying to stop the opposition, who together have a majority of seats in the parliament, from forcing through measures to give lawmakers more oversight over the government.

The DPP says more debate is needed.

The reforms will give lawmakers the power to ask the military, private companies or individuals to disclose information deemed relevant by parliamentarians.

They will also criminalise contempt of parliament by government officials and make the offence punishable with prison terms.

But the DPP says there is no clear definition of contempt of parliament.

Taiwan's main opposition party the Kuomintang (KMT), which supports closer ties with China but denies being pro-Beijing, says it is trying to bring more accountability to government.

Friday night's protesters, many of them students or young professionals, listened to speeches and carried banners accusing the opposition of trying to ram through the reforms, and even working in concert with China.

Senior DPP lawmaker Wang Ting-yu told the chamber the legislation would illegally expand the power of lawmakers, including the power to punish companies and individuals who failed to comply with