Taiwan's ruling party expressed concern Monday amid reports that Chinese officials could cancel planned trips to the island following recent violent protests against the visits of two Beijing envoys.
President Ma Ying-jeou's Kuomintang (KMT) said it feared Chinese officials would be reluctant to visit Taiwan, after the clashes and scuffles surrounding trips by China's top two negotiators on relations with the island.
"I heard a group from Chongqing have cancelled their planned visit, and two other groups are also reportedly considering dropping their visits here," KMT spokeswoman Chen Shu-jung told AFP.
"I'm not sure why they did this, but considering the timing after the violence, concerns about their safety here may be the cause," she said.
Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, which makes policy on China issues, said it had no knowledge of the reported cancellations.
China's top Taiwan negotiator, Chen Yunlin, made history when he visited the island and met Ma last week, but protests against his visit ended in violent clashes between police and protesters that left more than 110 people injured.
Last month, his deputy Zhang Mingqing — in Taiwan to prepare for Chen's visit — was jostled and pushed to the ground by pro-independence activists in the southern city of Tainan.
The episode triggered an angry response from the Chinese government, which demanded that Taiwan severely punish the activists who manhandled Zhang.
Local newspapers cited Li Weiyi, spokesman for China's cabinet-level Taiwan Affairs Office, as saying that Beijing had not ordered the suspension of visits to Taiwan by government officials.
Tensions have eased since the China-friendly Ma took office earlier this year, promising to improve trade and tourism links with Beijing following eight years of strained relations under the previous pro-independence government.
China and Taiwan split in 1949 after a civil war, but Beijing regards the island as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.
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