Taiwan cops in bid to retake govt HQ

Manhandled: Riot police officers nabbing a protester outside the Executive Yuan during a demonstration in Taipei. - AFP

TAIPEI: Taiwan riot police unleashed water cannon to dislodge hundreds of demonstrators who had stormed government headquarters in violent scenes that dramatically escalated a days-old protest against a trade pact with China.

After nearly a week-long occupation of Taiwan’s parliament, the protesters on late Sunday also infiltrated the Executive Yuan where the Cabinet offices are located, pulling down barbed-wire barricades outside and using ladders to break into offices on the second floor.