Trade negotiators from Taipei and Beijing signed three deals in Taiwan Tuesday as anti-China demonstrators protested the warming relations.
Hundreds of protesters rallied outside the hotel in Taichung where the envoys signed agreements on fishing crews, industrial product standards and agriculture quarantine and inspection. A fourth deal on taxation was postponed.
The activists are mostly from Taiwan's opposition Democratic Progressive Party, which is concerned the trade negotiations could eventually lead to Taiwan's unification with mainland China.
Chinese envoy Chen Yunlin said this week that he respects the people who oppose his visit. But on Tuesday, he said the peaceful development between China and Taiwan is an irreversible trend.
The meeting is Chen's fourth with Taiwan negotiator Chiang Pin-kung. The men are trying to work out a free trade agreement to bridge commerce across the Taiwan Strait.Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou has promoted closer economic ties with China since his election last year.
The opposition party says the president's policies are threatening the well-being of Taiwan's people and clearing the way for China's takeover of the island.
Taipei split from Beijing after mainland China fell to Mao Zedong's communist forces in 1949, ending a civil war with Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang, Nationalist Party. The nationalists retreated to Taiwan, where they set up their own government.
China insists Taiwan is part of its territory, and has threatened to use force if Taipei formally declares independence.
Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Xinhua