Chinese official roughed up by crowd in Taiwan

[Coventina]

Source: Los Angeles Times

Reported from Beijing -- China condemned an assault on one of its envoys by an angry crowd in Taiwan on Tuesday, an attack that came as the two longtime adversaries are trying to ease decades of tension.

Taiwanese television showed Zhang Mingqing, vice chairman of a mainland association handling cross-strait relations, lying on the ground beside his eyeglasses. Other footage showed an elderly woman hitting his car window with her cane and a pro-independence activist with a green headband stomping on the roof of the car.

That followed an incident Monday in which about 200 demonstrators yelled, cursed and heckled Zhang as he took the podium at Tainan National University of the Arts. Zhang was in Taiwan for an academic symposium, ostensibly in a nonofficial capacity. Taiwan and China often communicate through unofficial channels, given their strained relations.

Analysts said both sides have an interest in preventing public anger from raging out of control as they work to reduce tensions and boost transportation, cultural and business links.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-fg-taiwan22-2008oct22,0,7743767.story