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Sha Hailin leaves Taipei among protests

Sha Hailin leaves Taipei among protests

Sha Hailin left Taipei among protests

Sha Hailin, head of the United Front Work Department of Chinese Communist Party's Shanghai Municipal Committee, finished a three-day visit and left Taipei for Shanghai on Thursday, August 24, 2016.

The Shanghai Communist Party official arrived in Taiwan on Monday for a city-to-city dialogue, amid a chill in relations following the inauguration of the island's new president, Tsai Ing-wen, in May.

The visit is a rare point of direct contact between Taiwan and China in China’s earlier announcement that it was freezing exchanges between the two sides.

About a dozen politicians and citizens from pro-independence parties, including Taiwan Solidarity Union, staged an airport protest in Taipei Songshan Airport over Sha’s departure, saying the 1992 Consensus is to “lead the wolf into the house” and that Taiwan refuses united front.

Protesters had also rallied at an airport and other locations Sha visited since Monday, shouting slogans against communism and saying that his rank was insufficient to merit a meeting with Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je.

"Such forums should be attended by the mayors of both cities for various exchanges. Therefore if (Ko) meets with a United Front Work Department official, it would be on an unequal footing," said Chou Ni-an, a former member of the national legislature representing the Taiwan Solidarity Union.

Sha heads the Chinese financial hub's United Front Work Department, a body generally used for outreach to minority groups, organizations and figures not under the direct control of the ruling Communist Party.

"This is wrong. We don't need to endorse China's United Front Work," Chou said.

Despite that China has been saying Taiwan has been part of its territory since ancient times, Taiwan does not acknowledge Beijing's claim of authority over it and Tsai ing-wen refuses to endorse the concept of a single Chinese nation.

(with Associated Press)