AKIPRESS.COM - Senior Chinese official overseeing ties with Taiwan is visiting the island, amid controversy over a proposed trade pact.

China's Taiwan Affairs Office director Zhang Zhijun's visit follows unprecedented protests in Taiwan over the pact in March.

Protesters said the deal would increase Chinese influence and Taiwan's dependence on the mainland.

But Taiwan officials argued that it would benefit Taiwan's economy.

Over the next four days, Mr Zhang is set to meet his counterpart, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs minister Wang Yu-chi, and opposition figure Chen Chu, who is the mayor of the pro-independence city Kaohsiung.

Chinese state news agency Xinhua said he is also expected to engage with ethnic minorities, small and medium-sized enterprises, farmers and fishermen and Taiwanese youth and students.

His visit has already triggered some small-scale protests in Taipei, according to local media, and some groups are warning that there will be more in Kaohsiung.

The trade pact, signed a year ago, has the two countries agreeing to invest more freely in each other's services markets.

It remains stalled in Taiwan's parliament. Lawmakers will discuss it during a session which overlaps with Mr Zhang's visit.