Taipei, Taiwan - Legislators in Taiwan tackled, fist-fought, and threw water at one another on Friday after President Lai Ching-Te's party tried to block legislation that it says would damage democracy.

On Thursday night, President Lai Ching-Te's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) occupied the podium of the parliament's main chamber and barricaded the room with chairs.

The decision was made in an attempt to stop several amendments proposed by the opposition, Kuomintang (KMT), and its ally the Taiwan People's Party (TPP), which the DPP claim would bring on a "parliamentary dictatorship."

Changes proposed by the KMT and TPP would make it much harder for voters to oust elected officials who they see as being unfit for office, the DPP argue.

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As a result of the DPP's decision to barricade parliament, legislators came to physical blows in the chamber. There are reports that some members were pushed to the floor and thrown against the wall.

According to activist and journalist Roy Ngerng, one legislator was kicked and beaten while another was injured in the arm. There is footage of a member being wheeled away by paramedics.

This comes as China continues to threaten Taiwan with military drills, and insists that the self-ruled island is part of Beijing's legal and sovereign territory.

It is believed by some that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has a strong influence over both the KMT and TPP, and may be behind the amendments they have pushed through parliament.

This is at least in-part evidenced by former leader of the KMT, Ma Ying-Jeou, who this year toured China and expressed increasing optimism for the Chinese cause.

In July, he even went as far as calling supporters of Taiwanese independence a "minority group."

On Friday, the DPP issued a statement on X decrying the bills, which passed because the house remains in KMT and TPP control.

"The bills KMT rammed through the legislature today will cause immense damage to Taiwan's democracy," the DPP wrote. "By making it exceedingly hard to recall legislators and by paralyzing the Constitutional Court, KMT and TPP have issued themselves a carte blanche to wreak more havoc."

"DPP legislators have employed every available measure to prevent the bills from being passed. We will continue to stand up and take action in the face of the opposition's continued destruction of Taiwan's democracy," the DPP added.