Zhang Mingqing, vice chairman of mainland China's semi-official Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS), was roughed up by a score of protesters led by Wang Ting-yu, a DPP member of Tainan's City Council. They surrounded and manhandled Zhang at the Confucius Temple in Tainan, southern Taiwan, during a sightseeing tour. Without adequate police protection, the hapless Zhang was harassed, chased, punched, kicked and thrown to the ground, falling heavily on his back with his glasses flying away. During the pandemonium, a thuggish, 52-year-old man wearing green headband leapt onto the roof of Zhang's car and stomped wildly. Zhang was later helped to his feet by plainclothesmen who escorted him to a waiting car and escaped narrowly.

The incident shook Taiwan like a bombshell. It was a frontal attack on democracy by the island's extremists who acted like lynch mob in supreme disregard for law. It was a dark day for Taiwan, a day of infamy for all those who cherish and champion the true cause of democracy.

It was sad to note that Wang Ting-yu, leader of the violent protest, denied any wrongdoing. "The protesters came by themselves," Wang said. "There was no violence. Zhang fell by tripping over a stump," he said on television which showed him pushing shoving Zhang around. Another DPP heavyweight, Wang Hsing-nan, said violence was justified. "It's hard (for the protesters) to be rational, given the circumstances." But ruling Kuomintang (KMT) legislators reacted angrily. Hung Hsiu-chu, an outspoken lawmaker nicknamed "little pepper" for her pungent remarks, described the incident as a "shame" for Taiwan and a disgrace for all the world to see.

For Zhang Mingqing, the incident was really an eye-opening experience. Now he might have second thoughts about Taiwan's widely acclaimed democracy, which George W. Bush hailed in March this year as a "beacon" in Asia and the world. If democracy means a free-for-all, lawlessness and barbarism as Zhang has tasted in person, it would be something the mainland would rather dispense with.

For CNN and the Times, Taiwan's "rambunctious democracy" of fist-fighting and hair-pulling on the parliament floor is common fare. It makes Taiwan's democracy amusing and famous. But manhandling a "Chinese envoy" is beyond the pale. It is not the way the Chinese people treat their guests. Zhang, a scholar who also serves as the dean of the School of Journalism and Communications at Xiamen University in Fujian, was invited to speak at a seminar on media exchange at the University of Arts in Tainan.

The gratuitous assault on Zhang is a blow to the cross-strait relations which President Ma Ying-jeou is determined to develop after a decade of deep freeze under former Presidents Chen Shui-bian and Lee Teng-hui who pursued confrontational, separatist policies that have resulted in Taiwan's diplomatic and economic marginalization. Since his election in March, the long-suspended cross-strait dialogue has resumed between Taiwan's Strait Exchange Foundation (SEF) and its mainland counterpart ARATS, two quasi-official bodies empowered by both sides to handle day-to-day issues in the absence of official ties.Zhang's current visit to Taiwan was in fact a warm-up for a historic visit to Taiwan by his boss Chen Yun-lin, ARATS chairman, scheduled for November if not earlier. Chen would be the highest-ranking mainland official ever to visit Taiwan since 1949 although the ARATS is a semi-official agency acting as a front for the Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) of the State Council.

Immediately after the incident, the mainland's ARATS and TAO issued statements condemning the "barbarous act" of violence against Zhang and demanding the punishment for perpetrators and instigators of the violence. The two agencies expressed confidence, however, in the continued development of cross-strait relations.

Lien Chan, honorary chairman of the ruling Kuomintang, was shocked and enraged by the violence. Lien, who blazed a new trail to China by taking a "journey of peace" in 2005 as the KMT chairman to open a new page in cross-strait relations, demanded the government to bring the culprits to justice.

The government was lethargic in its reaction to the emergency. "It's regrettable," said Lai Hsing-yuan, chairwoman of the Cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council (MAC). "We condemn all forms of violence." The Office of the President expressed "heartache" over the violence, while the Executive Yuan seemed completely at a loss after belatedly learning of the incident.

The government has been roundly criticized for its insensitivity and fecklessness in dealing with the matter. First, It overlooked the personal safety of such an important and sensitive visitor from China. To let Zhang visit the stronghold of radical separatists in Tainan without adequate police protection was to put him in harm's way. Second, the government was aware the DPP was desperately in need of an explosive incident to divert national attention away from Chen Shui-bian's money laundering scandal. Zhang's visit to Tainan was a godsend. The negligence of the relevant government agencies, including the Interior Ministry, the National Security Bureau, the MAC and SEF, is appalling. Expressing regret and indignation cannot make up for the irreparable damage done to cross-strait relations and Taiwan's international image.

Zhang Mingqing showed admirable composure despite the brutal attack. He said he believed that his assailants were just "a handful of extremists" who did not represent the vast majority of Taiwan's people. This scholar-turned envoy is no stranger to Taiwan. He served several years ago as the spokesman for TAO and was known to Taiwan's press corps for his blunt speech.

Hopefuflly, the monkey wrench thrown by the DPP's radical supporters will not scuttle the plan of Chen Yunlin's visit to Taiwan to hold historic talks with his counterpart P.K. Chiang. At a time when the world is struggling to weather through the worst financial storm in seven decades, the Chiang-Chen talks promise opportunities for economic cooperation between the two sides.

Taiwan's politicians, if they really "love Taiwan," should look forward for opportunities that would bring Taiwan peace, prosperity and dignity as Ma Ying-jeou is seeking with his new political agenda. Confrontational politics have failed totally and miserably under Chen and Lee and have to be abandoned. That's the "change we need," just as the American voters are embracing Democratic Sen. Barack Obama's "change" in the November election after eight years of failed policies under a Republican president-- George W. Bush.