Over ten thousand Taiwan People's Party supporters gathered outside the Legislature in Taipei in protest of their leader Ko Wen-je's re-arrest amid a graft probe. The party intends the rally to be the first of many across the nation, as they argue Ko's corruption case highlights damage to judicial integrity.
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00:00In Taipei, thousands of supporters of Taiwan's third-largest political party, the TPP, are
00:06here outside the legislature protesting the re-arrest of their leader, Kuo Wenzhe.
00:12Donned with emblems of the party's signature little grass icon associated with its youth
00:18and grassroots appeal, protesters and party reps claim the graft probe against Kuo is
00:24all a political witch hunt.
00:26Protesters here are accusing President Lai Ching-teh's government of misusing the law
00:31and the media to suppress its opponents.
00:44Many here are holding signs that read, Stand with Justice and Green Terror, a play on Taiwan's
00:50authoritarian era known as White Terror and the color of the ruling Democratic Progressive
00:55Party.
01:09Kuo has risen in influence in Taiwan, having turned his party into a major player in what
01:14had traditionally been a two-party system.
01:17That's why his supporters here believe he's being targeted.
01:20But the ruling party says it's the TPP that's creating divisions in society by holding demonstrations
01:27like this.
01:28With Kuo held incommunicado, the TPP is speaking up without its leader, insisting that the
01:34probe has damaged judicial integrity and that they must rally to protect democracy and the
01:40rule of law.
01:41Ethan Chen and Joyce Zen in Taipei for Taiwan Plus.