Taiwanese protesters cry 'treason' over Ma Ying-jeou's meeting with China's Xi Jinping

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou's office yesterday to protest against his meeting in Singapore with President Xi Jinping , fearing the island may surrender its self-governance to the mainland.

Protesters started storming the heavily guarded parliament building in Taipei overnight. At Songshan airport in the city, police arrested 27 people who tried to push their way through a side gate as Ma left for the meeting.

Three protesters from anti-Beijing NGO Democracy Tautin were denied entry to Singapore by custom officials, who told them that one day was simply too short for travel and took them to a small room for questioning and fingerprinting, the group posted it on its Facebook page.

Later, after the meeting had begun, around 500 protesters in Taipei including rights activists and environmentalists spilled their anger over what they perceived as Ma's warm response to Xi's comment in his opening remarks that "We are brothers".

"How can he... without any negotiation go to meet with the leader of our enemy? I believe this is getting to the level of treason," said Lin Hsiu-hsin, vice-chairman of the Taiwan Association of University Professors.