Lawmakers traded punches during a debate over a think tank and a top security agency that opposition legislators say has been used by Taiwan's ruling Nationalists to tap their phones.
One lawmaker's ribs were broken during the five-minute brawl.The scuffle broke out in a debate over the National Security Council, which formulates foreign and defense policy, and the National Security Bureau, Taiwan's top security agency. Opposition lawmakers said the agencies give Pres-i-dent Lee Teng-hui too much power.
They wanted the agencies abolished or reorganized so that they fall under Cabinet - not presidential - control.
The National Security Bureau is viewed as Taiwan's equivalent of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and Federal Bureau of Investigation together.
Lu Hsiu-yi of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party called the bureau "a wolf in sheep's clothing." He said it helped Lee fight his rivals by tapping their phones. The agency refuses to comment on the allegations.
The brawl began Wednesday night when Nationalist legislator Chen Chien-min, who was presiding, called an end to the lengthy debate for a vote.
Opposition lawmakers responded by ripping off their microphones and banging their desks with wooden blocks, newspapers reported.