"Sore and dizzy" China official cuts short Taiwan trip

An image from television footage shows Zhang Mingqing (C), vice chairman of China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), falling after he was pushed by protesters during a visit to a temple in Tainan October 21, 2008.

TAIPEI (Reuters) - A Chinese official who was pushed to the ground by anti-China activists on a visit to Taiwan cut his trip short on Wednesday because he said he felt sore and dizzy.

Protesters attacked Zhang Mingqing, vice chairman of China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, in the city of Tainan on Tuesday, leaving him lying on the ground, his glasses at his side, television pictures showed.

A day earlier, about 200 demonstrators used expletives, yelling for Zhang to return to China when he took the podium at the Tainan National University of the Arts.

China has claimed sovereignty over Taiwan since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949 and has vowed to bring the island under its rule, by force if necessary.

"Why am I leaving early? The place where I was hurt is sore, and my head is a bit dizzy," Zhang told reporters as he packed for his mid-morning flight.

Only a few people were targeting him, he added.

"I don't think I should have brought (the police) so much trouble," he said, choking back tears.

Ties between China and Taiwan have improved since President Ma Ying-jeou came to power in Taiwan in May and China's top negotiator, Chen Yunlin, is expected to visit the island later this year for formal talks.

Zhang's association had written to its Taiwan counterpart to express its "strong indignation and severe condemnation" of the attack, China's official Xinhua news agency said on Tuesday.

"We are astonished at this," it cited the letter as saying.