Chinese official attacked by pro-independence activists in Taiwan

A top Chinese official was attacked by Taiwanese pro-independence activists during a visit to the island on Tuesday.

Television footage showed scores of protestors surrounding Zhang Mingqing, vice president of China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS), and later pushing him to the ground while he was visiting a temple in southern Tainan city.

He was supported by a local guide and escorted back to the car as some protestors tried to throw punches at him and prevent him from leaving, according to the footage.

Local television also showed a man climbing on to the roof of Zhang's car and repeatedly stamping on it while shouting "get out" after he got in the car.

Zhang, who arrived in Taiwan on Sunday amid tight security, on Monday attended a seminar at a university in Tainan, a stronghold of the pro-independence opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

In Taipei, premier Liu Chao-shiuan and the ruling Kuomintang party condemned the incident.

"The incident seriously damaged the image of Taiwanese people and this is not the way to treat a guest... we demand DPP chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen apologise to Zhang," the Kuomintang said in a statement.

The Democratic Progressive Party caucus, meanwhile, said it deemed Zhang an "enemy" of Taiwan.

"China uses toxic milk to poison Taiwanese people and deploy missiles to threaten us. We don't consider Zhang a guest but an enemy, and no one will treat an enemy nicely," opposition lawmaker Yeh Yi-jin told reporters.