[1]The rally from the air. Photo by Lu Tong-hi. CC: NC.
On Sunday March 30, 2014, about 500,000 Taiwanese from all over Taiwan joined a public assembly in Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei to support the protestors [2] who are occupying the country's legislature, known as the Legislative Yuan, in protest of the secret negotiations surrounding the Cross-Straight Service and Trade Agreement (CSSTA) with China.
Standing in front of the Presidential Building, the #CongressOccupied protesters recited their demands [3] [zh]:
1. 退回服貿協議；
2. 兩岸協議監督專法法制化，先立法、再審服貿協議，立法院完成前不得與中國洽談或簽定新協定或協議；
3. 召開公民憲政會議；
4. 要求朝野立委站出來，響應人民的訴求，支持民間版兩岸協定締結條例草案盡速完成立法。
1. Withdrawal from the CSSTA;
2. The creation of a monitoring mechanism for cross-strait agreements before the review of the CSSTA. Till then, Taiwan and China should not enter into any negotiations nor sign any agreements;
3. A ‘citizen’s constitutional conference’ be held;
4. Legislators from both parties should step out and address the people’s demands for the creation of a monitoring mechanism for cross-strait agreements as soon as possible.
They also asked their supporters to come to the Legislation Yuan every day to support the occupation and pressed the legislators to respond to these requests.
[4]A young child at the rally. Photo by sheina0128. CC: NC.
The occupation protest has won not only domestic support from 45 cities and 16 counties [5], but also overseas support from Hong Kong [6], and activists from mainland China, such as Hu Jia [7], also expressed his support on March 30 [8] through Twitter.
下午1:00，我在北京的家狱里一个人参加了。所以，台北太阳花学运的朋友们，北京有人在和你们同步。北京，没有缺席。
It is 1 p.m. I joined the rally [in Ketagalan Boulevard, Taipei] by myself as I am detained at home in Beijing. To my friends in Taipei who have joined the Sunflower Movement: there is someone in Beijing supporting you. Beijing is not absent in this rally.