Taiwan Parliament: Nationalists vs Democrats, fist-fighting & cursing - PHOTOS

Legislators kicked and punched each other, threw rubbish bins and splashed water during the fight in the Legislative Yuan in Taipei earlier today, with two members being sent to hospital.

The fight between the nationalist ruling Kuomintang party and the opposition Democratic Progressive Party broke out after the speaker rejected opposition attempts to hold an in-depth debate on a controversial trade pact with China.

The contentious Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement looks set to become a key election issue. The brawl, which saw rival legislators try to push each other off the podium, is at least the third major scrap in Taiwan's parliament this year - after two year's of relative calm as lawmakers vowed to lose their reputation for mass bouts of fisticuffs.

The previous rumbles have centred on one law to open up university enrolment to students from the Chinese mainland, and legislation that would see local officials being appointed, rather than elected.


/Metro.co.uk/

Click photos to enlarge: