DPP spokeswoman Cheng Wen-tsang said yesterday the party would use trumpets and loudspeakers to "make the voice of Taiwan people heard by Ma and Chen".

Local media reports said Taipei had mobilized 3,000 police officers and erected barricades around the meeting venue to repel the protest.

Chen Yunlin walks hand in hand with James Soong at a banquet held on Nov. 5, 2008.

At a banquet hosted by People First Party chairman James Soong yesterday, Chen Yunlin said he had heard of, and seen, protests against his trip.

"There are still misunderstandings about us among some Taiwan people. Some existing problems that can only be resolved later have even led to their dissatisfaction," he told hundreds of guests.

"I have heard and seen (the protests) and I was prepared for them before I came here."

Chen, however, stressed that "there is no reason to back away from" the road of pursuing cross-Straits peace and development, which has won support from a majority of people on both sides.

Last night, DPP supporters led by Tsai protested near Taipei's Grand Formosa Regent Hotel, where Chen was meeting Kuomintang chairman Wu Poh-hsiung. By 1 am, he was still unable to leave because of the protest.

The SEF condemned the nuisance in a press release on Wednesday night.

Local TV footage showed a CCTV news anchorwoman and a reporter, who had come to cover the cross-Straits talks, being shoved around by the demonstrators.

After several minutes of clashes with the protestors, police finally managed to escort the two away from the crowd.

(China Daily November 6, 2008)