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More than 60 Taiwanese police injured in protests
2008-11-06
TAIPEI - More than 60 police were injured in Taiwan overnight during massive protests against a visit by top Chinese envoy Chen Yunlin, police said Friday. Some 2,200 riot police backed by water cannon were dispatched late Thursday to Taipei's Grand Hotel where Chen was staying, as some 1,000 people staged rowdy and at times violent protests, police said. Some protesters threw eggs, rocks, bottled water and petrol bombs at the police in an attempt to get past barbed wire barricades. Around 64 police were injured during the protests in various parts of Taipei which lasted till early Friday before police used water cannon to dispel a crowd of some 100 protestors. Local media said more than 20 protestors and reporters were also hurt in the clashes. Several people were arrested, but police have yet to say how many. On Thursday, tens of thousands of demonstrators, mostly supporters of the Democratic Progressive Party, rallied in central Taipei to protest Chen's meeting with the island's President Ma Ying-jeou. Organisers put the number of protestors at more than 100,000 while police estimated the crowd at 10,000.
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