Protest looms over island talks

The threat of a large-scale protest of nearly 100,000, employing flash mobs and remote-controlled planes, was announced by Taiwan's pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to possibly thwart the anticipated cross-Straits talks next week.

Chen Yunlin, president of the Beijing-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), will meet Chiang Pin-kung, chairman of the Taipei-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), for the fourth round of talks Dec 21-25 in the city of Taichung.

ARATS and SEF, semi-official bodies set up to deal with cross-Straits issues, resumed negotiations in June 2008 after a 10-year suspension of talks.