TAIPEI: China’s top official in charge of Taiwan affairs yesterday wrapped up a landmark four-day visit to the island marred by angry protests, which forced him to scrap some engagements.
The visit by Zhang Zhijun, the most senior Chinese official ever to visit Taiwan, was a further sign of warming ties between the former bitter rivals despite vocal opposition from Taiwanese suspicious of closer ties with Beijing.
But protests by anti-China demonstrators forced Zhang to cancel a visit to a fishing port in southern Kaohsiung city earlier yesterrday following clashes between protesters and the police.
One protester splashed a bottle of white paint on his car late on Friday.
Zhang, who holds ministerial status, also scrapped two planned engagements in central Taichung city ahead of his departure, officials said.
“Taiwan is a diverse society and there all kind of voices. It is very normal. I believe the consensus of the two sides and the mainstream public opinions are for peaceful developments,” Zhang said in Taichung when asked about the protests.
Kaohsiung mayor Chen Chu, a senior politician at the China-sceptic opposition Democratic Progressive Party, urged protesters to refrain from violence.
AFP
