Tens of thousands of anti-nuclear protesters took to the streets of Taipei on Sunday. They were calling for an end to construction on the nation’s controversial fourth nuclear power plant.
The protesters followed through with a threat to take over a section of Zhongxiao West Road, which is one of the most important traffic thoroughfares in the capital city. The protesters were not originally planning on occupying that stretch of road, which passes in front of the Taipei train station. The initial plans were for two days of protests in the area surrounding the Presidential Office Building and the legislature, and a parade which would travel down one lane of Zhongxiao West Road on Sunday.
But the organizers announced on Saturday that once the parade reached Zhongxiao West Road, the protestors would lay down in a simulation of a nuclear disaster.
Taipei police on Sunday called on the protesters not to disrupt traffic. But by about 4:30pm, the crowd had crossed police barriers and blocked all four lanes of traffic on Zhongxiao West Road
Then, shortly before 5pm, organizers broadcast an alarm as part of a simulated nuclear disaster, and the protesters lay down on the street.
Some reports were saying that the protesters were planning on occupying the area until the government responded to their demands. The police are calling for the protesters to leave the area before the people of Taipei head to work on Monday morning. They say that the official protest application was only for one lane of traffic on Zhongxiao West Road, and that it was set to expire at midnight on Sunday.
Police say they are not ruling out the possibility of forcibly dispersing the protesters after that point.