Thousands of fans packed a Taipei stadium to watch the island's first concert staged by mainland singers and rock bands, reports said yesterday, in the latest sign of warming ties.
The concert, organised by the Chinese Music Chart and dubbed China's Grammy Awards, saw some 60 bands and singers from the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan perform before screaming fans on Saturday, but also drew dozens of anti-China demonstrators.
The protesters chanted pro-independence slogans and waved anti-Beijing banners outside the stadium, television reports showed, but they were unable to interrupt the concert which included performances by singer Han Geng and actress Zhang Ziyi.
Without the prior approval of Taiwanese authorities, organisers of the Chinese Music Chart unilaterally announced last month that an awards ceremony would be held in Taipei for the first time since it was set up nearly two decades ago.
The plan drew fire from the island's opposition, prompting the award organisers to change the presentation ceremony to a concert at the demand of Taiwanese authorities.
"[The concert] is part of Chinese communist … tactics against Taiwan people, and we're here to voice our desire that we don't want to be ruled by China," said protester Tsai Ting-kui, according to a report in the Liberty Times.