Protesters barricaded themselves inside Taiwan's parliament for a third straight day on Thursday, threatening "further action" if the government pushes ahead with its plans to ratify a contentious trade pact with China.

More than 200 protesters -- mostly young students -- stormed through security barriers and took over the parliament's main chamber late Tuesday in the first such occupation of the building in Taiwan's history.

A 5.6-magnitude earthquake rattled Taiwan Wednesday and shook buildings in the capital, the Seismology Center said, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

The center said the quake struck at 8:19 pm (1219 GMT) with its epicenter 67 kilometers (41 miles) east of the eastern city of Hualien, at a depth of 16.2 kilometers.

Hundreds of Taiwanese activists were locked in a tense standoff with police Wednesday after they stormed parliament to try to stop the government ratifying a contentious trade agreement with China.

Around 200 protesters -- mostly young students -- broke through security barriers and took over parliament's main chamber on Tuesday night, the first such occupation of the building in the island's history.

A Taiwanese air force major and a karaoke bar owner have been charged with leaking military secrets to China, prosecutors said Friday, in the latest espionage case to hit the island.

Major Hau Chih-hsiung, who works at an air base in southern Taiwan, was charged on Thursday with passing confidential information to China through middleman Wan Tsung-lin.

Tens of thousands marched in Taiwan Saturday to call for an end to nuclear energy on the island, ahead of the third anniversary of the Fukushima atomic disaster in Japan, organizers said.

In Taipei, protesters held placards and flags painted with slogans such as "No Nuke, No more Fukushima" and "No Nuke, Save Taiwan" as they marched the streets of the capital in the rainy cold weather.

A Taiwanese man who rammed a truck into the presidential office in an attempted suicide attack was on Thursday charged with attempted murder and four lesser offenses.

Chang Teh-cheng, 41, drove the 35-tonne vehicle at high speed through several barricades, up a set of steps and into a bullet-proof screen before getting stuck in a gate leading to the office's main building.

A Taiwanese military intelligence officer who went AWOL and unsuccessfully sought political asylum in Britain was indicted Friday on desertion charges, prosecutors said.

Yeh Mei, a 33-year-old lieutenant with the Military Intelligence Agency, had been put on Taiwan's wanted list after failing to return for duty following an overseas trip in 2012.

A Taiwan official visiting China said Wednesday the two sides were "actively discussing" setting up liaison offices, a day after they held their first government-to-government talks since splitting 65 years ago.

Taiwan's top official overseeing China policy, Wang Yu-chi, urged more efforts to build stable relations. Observers say liaison bureaux on either side of the Taiwan Strait could serve some of the functions of diplomatic missions.

China and Taiwan on Tuesday held their first government-to-government talks since they split 65 years ago after a brutal civil war -- a symbolic yet historic move between the former bitter rivals.

Taipei's Wang Yu-chi, who oversees the island's China policy, met his Beijing counterpart Zhang Zhijun in Nanjing on the first day of a four-day trip.

Taiwan stepped up security measures Saturday after a driver rammed a huge truck through a bullet-proof screen and into the main gate of the presidential office, apparently intentionally, officials said.

A man identified only by his family name Chang drove the 35-ton truck through railings, the screen, and up a set of steps before coming stuck in the gate leading to the office's main building, police said.