Lawmakers from the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) obstructed a joint committee meeting of the legislature on Wednesday.
More than 20 lawmakers from the opposition party staged a sit-in at the door of the conference room and would not let ruling party lawmakers in to review a controversial trade in services agreement with China.
Caucus whip of the ruling party Lin Hung-chih said that the committee meeting this week is meant to allow a clause-by-clause review of the pact, as demanded by DPP chairman Su Tseng-chang. He called on the DPP caucus not to block the review process and to allow the legislature to resume normal operations.
During a March 17 joint committee review session of the trade pact, the convener of the cross-committee deliberation suddenly declared that the committee review process had been completed. The move triggered strong protests by opponents of the trade pact with China and led to the student occupation of the legislature on March 18. The protestors remain inside the legislature as of Wednesday.