As protesters gathered in the streets, Taiwan’s leader met the highest-ranking Communist Chinese official to ever visit the island.

China’s landmark trade agreement with Southeast Asian leaders is the latest example of how the communist giant is claiming a growing role in a region long dominated by the United States.

Opposition supporters hurled stones and water bottles as some 1,000 riot police today tried to end a demonstration demanding a recount of ballots in the president’s razor-thin election victory two weeks ago.

Irish Nobel Peace Prize winner Betty Williams stepped into an row when she addressed a Taiwanese presidential election rally last night.

China and the United States are at odds over a proposed US missile shield, but initial talks on the issue were constructive, a US envoy said today.