Beijing's top official on Taiwan greeted with protests and brawls on visit to Taipei-controlled Quemoy
Meeting of top cross-strait officials on island controlled by Taipei marred by clashes by supporters of opposing political camps
Officials from Taiwan and the mainland have met for talks on a range of issues in an attempt to maintain momentum for the forging of closer ties in the face of a sceptical Taiwanese public.
Yesterday's talks yielded no firm agreements but underscored Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou's desire to prove that engagement with the mainland benefited the island's economy.
Ministerial-level officials from both sides met on the tiny Taiwan-controlled island of Quemoy, called Jinmen on the mainland, which sits in the mouth of a bay outside Xiamen, in Fujian province, where the rivals fought bloody battles up to the 1960s.
Taiwan's cabinet-level body, the Mainland Affairs Council, said topics discussed included controlling the illegal excavation of sand from the ocean floor, connecting drinking water supplies from the mainland to Quemoy, and opening outlying Taiwanese islets to more mainland-based tourism and letting mainland tourists make transit stops in Taiwan.
Andrew Hsia Li-yan, chairman of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, and Zhang Zhijun, head of the mainland's Taiwan Affairs Office agreed to speed up the process to allow mainland tourist to travel to other countries while in transit in Taiwan.
"We, both sides, must make up our minds not to allow any setback in the cross-strait relationship," Zhang told Hsia, according to Xinhua.
Hsia met Zhang for the first time in Quemoy after becoming the council chairman in February. Hsia also said an agreement was also expected soon with Fujian province to supply drinking water to Quemoy.
