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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Taiwan protest over Beijing envoy | Taiwan protest over Beijing envoy |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| Demonstrators have surrounded a hotel in the Taiwanese capital to protest against a visit by a top-ranking Chinese negotiator. | Demonstrators have surrounded a hotel in the Taiwanese capital to protest against a visit by a top-ranking Chinese negotiator. |
| Several hundred protesters gathered at Taipei's Formosa Regent hotel as the envoy from Beijing, Chen Yunlin, was attending a dinner. | |
| Mr Chen is the most senior Chinese official to visit Taiwan in decades. | Mr Chen is the most senior Chinese official to visit Taiwan in decades. |
| But his arrival has triggered protests from groups that fear closer ties with China, which claims Taiwan as its own. | But his arrival has triggered protests from groups that fear closer ties with China, which claims Taiwan as its own. |
| 'Chinese bandit' | |
| Mr Chen is spending five days in Taiwan and has already signed landmark agreements to improve direct trade and transport links between the two sides. | |
| On Thursday he is to meet Taiwanese leader Ma Ying-jeou. | |
| But his visit has sparked demonstrations from pro-independence supporters. | |
| Late on Wednesday, around 800 angry protesters burned Chinese flags and shouted slogans as Mr Chen remained trapped inside the hotel. | |
| "China is China. Taiwan is Taiwan. We have a Chinese bandit on our territory and we need to resist," one protester told Reuters news agency. | |
| Lines of riot police prevented demonstrators from getting into the hotel. | |
| China claims sovereignty over Taiwan though they have been separately governed since 1949. |