TAICHUNG: A police officer remains in stable condition after he was injured Wednesday night as he tried to stop pro-independence protesters. The demonstrators were launching firecrackers outside the hotel in central Taiwan's Taichung City where a mainland delegation was staying, Taichung Mayor Hu Chi-chiang said yesterday.

Six protesters who allegedly hurled firecrackers toward the Windsor Hotel and pushed officer Chen Chu-hsiang off a truck as he tried to prevent the assault were detained after the Wednesday night scuffle. Chen Yunlin, president of the Beijing-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), and his entourage were staying at the hotel where the demonstration took place. It was the first arrest and the most serious injury that occurred since a series of protests were launched December 20 against Chen's five-day visit.

Chen arrived in Taichung on Monday for the fourth round of cross-Straits talks with his Taiwan counterpart, the chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation. The talks had concluded the previous day with three agreements inked.

The six protesters arrested after the incident were still in police custody yesterday on charges of endangering public safety, disrupting public service and assault, Yu said. The vehicle carrying the protesters was also seized, he added.

The firecrackers set off by the protesters, who were mostly from the pro-independence "The Taiwan Republic Campaign", posed a safety hazard for the hotel and the nearby area, Yu said.

A demonstrator at the scene told reporters afterwards that more than a dozen police officers jumped on the vehicle to go after the protesters and Chen "accidentally fell off the truck onto the ground." He added that he had a video clip to prove it.

The police also videotaped the incident, but the footage cannot be made public because the case is now under investigation by local prosecutors, Yu said.

"Our video footage shows that (officer) Chen was pushed from the vehicle," he said. TV news footage of the incident also shows a demonstrator wearing a telltale green vest pushed the policeman back as he was stepping onto the cargo bay of the truck.

Yu urged the protesters to express their views in a peaceful manner in order to avoid such incidents.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 12/25/2009 page2)