Dozens of anti-China activists protested in Taiwan on Monday against a trade pact with Beijing which they claim is the result of a conspiracy between the two governments.
The demonstrators assembled outside the island's parliament, currently in recess, chanting slogans against the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) and the island's President Ma Ying-jeou.
"The ECFA is a conspiracy of the Ma Ying-jeou administration and the Chinese Communist Party," said Tsai Ting-kui, the leader of the crowd, waving his fist in the air.
"If it is so good as Ma claims, then why doesn't he let the people decide whether or not they want it?"
An anti-Chinese party has filed a second referendum proposal over ECFA after the first was turned down by the government's Referendum Review Committee.
The group pledged to continue the protest over coming weeks as parliament mulls an extra session to ratify the agreement.
The pact, signed last week in the southwest Chinese city of Chongqing, is seen as the boldest step yet towards reconciliation between the former arch-foes, more than 60 years after the end of a civil war that drove them apart.
The signing of the ECFA marks the culmination of Beijing-friendly policies introduced by President Ma after he assumed power in 2008.
Ma has hailed the ECFA, saying it will bolster the island's economy, but the opposition claims it will undermine Taiwan's de facto independence.
Ties between Taiwan and China have improved since Ma came to power, but Beijing still regards Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.
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