New | 'This isn't the democracy we want': Some Chinese dismayed by Taiwan students' occupation of legislature

As more than 1,000 students occupied Taiwan’s legislature to protest the ruling party’s handling of a trade pact with China, pictures and reports of the occupation - which soon went viral on Chinese social media on Thursday - triggered concerns and criticism from intellectuals and microbloggers on the mainland.

While many critics said they were disturbed by the dramatic images that reminded them of scenes from China’s Cultural Revolution, others said they were disappointed by the illegal occupation that they said borders on violence.

Students broke into the main assembly hall in Legislative Yuan building on Tuesday night and blocked the entrances with chairs. They had said they planned to stay there until Friday.

Taiwan has long been seen as a successful democracy that many of China’s liberals believe the mainland should emulate. Many especially believed its relatively peaceful transition from an autocracy to a democratic system served as a perfect example for the mainland’s future political reform. 

Yet pictures of the student protesters vandalising facilities in the legislature seemed to have shattered the belief previously held by many mainlanders.