Taiwan seeks end of student protest

Over a week into the students' occupation of Taiwan's legislative building, both the ruling party and its opposition have shown intent on finding a peaceful end to the standoff over a cross-Strait service pact.

Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou on Tuesday said via his spokeswoman that he was willing to hold talks with students "without any preconditions" to solve the impasse and allow the legislative body to resume its work.

This was a major step by the ruling KMT party, chaired by Ma, to solve the crisis after failed negotiations between the students and the administrative chief Jiang Yi-huah on Saturday.

In response, student leader Lin Fei-fan agreed to the talk without preconditions, though he later rephrased the statement, saying they were expecting more sincerity from Ma before any negotiation could take place.

Hundreds of students broke into the legislative building in Taipei on Tuesday last week. They have been protesting about what they see as "undemocratic tactics" used by the KMT to ratify the pact. They are also worried about the impact the service pact could have on the local economy.

After days of protesting the standoff escalated when some students, aggravated by Ma's defense of the pact, joined other protesters to storm the nearby administrative building on Sunday night.

This prompted the authority to send in the police, who forcibly removed the students in the early hours of Monday morning. More than 170 people were injured.

In response, the students continued their sit-in at the legislative building. On Monday and Tuesday, the number of protestors dwindled.

"We are here because we care about Taiwan. We fear the pact will change society into something we don't want," said a college student surnamed Lin, who was among the hundreds outside the legislative building.