Shock moment mass brawl breaks out in PARLIAMENT with MPs punching & tackling each other in chaotic scenes
THIS is the shocking moment Taiwanese politicians descended into an ugly brawl inside the country’s parliament over major reforms.
Dramatic footage captured during the chaos showed several MPs exchanging blows as they hit and tackled each other amid a heated debate.
Some were even seen swarming around the speaker’s seat, while others climbed tables and pulled fellow lawmakers down to the ground.
While peace soon returned inside the parliament, more scuffles between politicians followed in the afternoon.
The unruly scenes come just days before Lai Ching-te of Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is set to assume office as President of the country after securing a third term.
Though Lai won the presidential election back in January, his party DPP failed to secure a majority in the parliament.
A heated debate broke when members of the country’s main opposition party Kuomingtang (KMT) – along with its ally Taiwan’s People’s Party (TPP) – pushed to give the parliament greater authority and scrutiny powers over the government.
They also advocated a controversial proposal to criminalise officials who are deemed to make false statements in parliament.
But the proposed draft reforms were rejected by Lai’s DPP who brushed them off as “an unconstitutional abuse of power”.
DPP lawmaker Wang Mei-hui said: “Why are we opposed? We want to be able to have discussions, not for there to be only one voice in the country.”
However, Jessica Chen from KMT accused the DPP of wanting to have autocratic powers as a party.
She said the reforms were to enable better legislative oversight of the executive branch.
Wearing a military-style helmet, she told Reuters: “The DPP does not want this to be passed as they have always been used to monopolising power.”
This is not the first time a physical fight has broken out in the Taiwanese parliament.
In 2020, members of KMT hurled buckets of pig innards towards the premier Su Tseng-chang and traded accusations over easing US pork imports.
DPP’s Lai will officially become the president of Taiwan on June 20 after he secured an unprecedented third term – a result likely to infuriate Beijing and send tensions spiralling.
During his political campaigns, he added that he is “determined to safeguard Taiwan from continuing threat and intimidation from China”.
Inside China's bid to absorb Taiwan
China under President Xi's rule has come to the edge of an all-out war with Taiwan, a move that coukld drag western powers in the Indo-pacific region.
China sees self-ruled Taiwan as a breakaway province and has not ruled out force to take the island.
Amid rising fears of a third world war come increasing concerns of China launching a full-blown invasion to absorb Taiwan in the Chinese mainland.
Beijing has already threatened to spark “uncontrolled escalation” and all-out warfare over one “misunderstanding”, as President Xi Jinping looks to stamp his authority.
The rise of DPP has been strongly opposed by Xi, and another term in the office means there will now be at least four more years of limited to zero dialogue with Beijing.
The result has sparked concerns that there might be conflict with China if the DPP refuses to resume tense peace talks.
Chinese officials described the 2024 election as a choice “between war and peace” in a chilling warning shot to Taiwanese voters.
The nation is feared to be a major flashpoint between the US and Beijing – with a potential invasion forcing the US to abandon the island or face a full-scale war with China, which could have devastating consequences.
A few weeks ago, experts warned the Communist superpower could use spy satellites to support an invasion of Taiwan, with submarines firing missiles at targets that have been identified by the space tech.