"Brown, Dale - Fatal Terrain" - читать интересную книгу автора (Brown Dale)

Assembly ran up and down the aisles, stood on desks, and
screamed at each other; several members were up on the dais
near the president, fighting with one another to decide who
would speak with the president first. Members of the National
Police Administration, charged with the protection of govern-
ment buildings and property and who acted as security guards

in the National Assembly chamber, had moved into the cham-
ber itself and stood stock-still along the outer aisles of the
Assembly chamber, long cane batons nearly invisible at their
sides and tear-gas canisters safely tucked away inside their
tunics. They did nothing but watch with stone-expressionless
faces while the fights and bedlam raged all around them.
"My fellow citizens," President Lee tried. His voice, even
amplified, was barely heard. He waited patiently for any sign
FATAL TERRAIN 3
that the near-riot was subsiding. He heard clothing rip just a
few paces away from him-the fight had somehow moved up
to the dais, where police were trying to keep Assembly mem-
bers from reaching the president and new premier-and de-
cided that he needed to wait a few moments longer. He had a
pistol tucked away in a holster inside his pants at the small of
his back, and Lee considered firing a shot in the air to get
everyone's attention, but quickly decided that a gunshot might
just make this place explode.
The Taiwanese National Assembly was composed of mem-
bers elected for life. Since most of the membership had been
elected to their post in 1948, prior to the Communist overthrow
of the Nationalist Party on the mainland, there were some very
old gentlemen here in the Assembly Hall. But the old goats,
Lee noticed, were arguing and fighting just as hard as the more
newly elected members-they just had less endurance. The
hall was splitting into two distinct sections, a normal and corn-
mon occurrence here in the National Assembly. The largest
group was the Kuomintang, along with their nominal allies the
New Party, the Young China Party, and the Chinese Demo-
cratic Socialist Party. On the other side were the members of
the Democratic Progressive Party, a more liberal and modern-
thinking political party filled with young, energetic, rather ide-
alistic members. Although the right side of the hall, filled with
KMT members and supporters, was much larger, both sides
were equally boisterous.

"My fellow citizens, please," Lee tried again. When he
realized there was no response to his pleas, Lee finally ordered
the police to step in. Order was quickly restored. "Thank you.
We will now proceed with the main piece of business on to-
night's agenda." Huang respectfully stepped behind and to
Lee's right; this simple action got the Assembly's attention
right away, and the chamber quieted. Lee quickly continued: