HOURS earlier, riot police had pushed and dragged away the last 200 Nationalist protesters from the presidential office, ending a week-long sit-in over the election controversy that has roiled financial markets and drawn threats from rival China.

President Chen Shui-bian, who defeated Nationalist leader Lien Chan by just 30,000 votes out of more than 13 million cast, said on Saturday he would agree to a full judicial recount to help resolve a crisis that has paralysed one of Asia?s most vibrant economies.

Chen asked the Nationalists to formally file a lawsuit contesting the poll result, which they have agreed to do. ?We hope after we file the lawsuit tomorrow (today), the recount can start the next day,? said Nationalist spokesman Justin Chou. ?We hope the recount can be held in Taipei, with judges and inspectors supervising.?

On Saturday, half a million Nationalist supporters braved a cold drizzle to throng the streets of Taipei in Taiwan?s largest protest, demanding a recount and an inquiry into an assassination attempt on Chen on election eve that Lien says cost him victory.

Protesters have demonstrated non-stop outside the president?s office since the March 20 poll, though their numbers had dwindled by daybreak yesterday when helmeted police followed orders from Chen to clear the square.

Another sit-in

Some minor scuffles broke out but there was not much violence. Outnumbered by the police, most protesters left reluctantly but calmly, although police had to strap some stubborn demonstrators into strait jackets to carry them away.

?Is it wrong to love your country,? shouted one woman, crying as she was sandwiched between two policemen and escorted away.

About 100 protesters went to the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall nearby to begin another sit-in. The Nationalists have vowed to hold another huge rally if their demands are not met soon.

?We will do our best to execute the recount according to the demands of the court and the two parties,? George Huang, Chairman of the Central Election Commission, told Reuters.

?How long it takes depends on how they want to do it. It will take a day or two if the recount is done by the election commissions in the 25 counties and cities,? he said, adding the tally can take longer if it is centralised in Taipei.

The end of the protest outside the president?s office was a relief for many residents, who had been alarmed by China?s vow it would not sit idly by if protests spiralled out of control.

Taiwan stocks fell 10 percent last week on the political turmoil and were expected to fall further this week although improving economic fundamentals should provide some support.

Aware of the risk posed by an angry response from China, which regularly threatens to use force to recover an island it claims as a renegade province, Chen also offered to meet Lien today, with no strings attached.

China regards the pro-independence Chen with suspicion and would have preferred a victory by Lien, who promotes a more conciliatory policy towards Taiwan?s biggest trade partner. Most of China?s state newspapers ran a story on the Saturday rally and at least one newspaper showed pictures of protesters.

Many Taiwanese believe the closely fought election was swung by the attempted assassination on the day before voting.

No arrest has been made but police said they are following three leads on a mysterious balding middle-aged man in yellow jacket and blue trousers who left the scene in haste.

Chen?s voice quivered with rage when he described his humiliation at suspicions he staged the shooting.

?I do not want to bear this bad name any longer,? Chen told his first news conference since winning another four-year term. The president vowed to step down if his rival could prove the assassination attempt in which a bullet gashed his abdomen had been staged and challenged Lien to find the world?s best sniper to re-enact the shooting. ?If you can?t do it or you are afraid of doing it, then shut up,? he told Lien and his running mate, James Soong.

Tiffany Wu