Taiwan military veterans try to storm parliament in pensions protest

Taiwanese military veterans clashed with police as they tried to storm parliament on Wednesday in the latest of a series of protests against planned pension cuts. 

Hundreds gathered outside the legislature’s main entrance and some threw smoke bombs and water bottles at police guarding the building in central Taipei. 

They tried to tear down gates and barricades surrounding the building and attempted to hurl an empty wooden coffin into the parliament compound’s courtyard, television footage showed.  

“How can the government unilaterally cut [our pensions] without our consent? The government is lousy, unfair and unjust!” said Wu Chih-chang, chairman of the Blue Sky Action Alliance which organised the protest.

Taiwan’s pension schemes vary for different occupations and former public-sector staff typically receive more generous packages than workers from other sectors. 

The government has warned that various pension funds could go bankrupt as early as 2020 if the system is not overhauled.