TAIPEI - A TOP Chinese envoy bid farewell to Taiwan on Friday, wrapping up a trip that yielded a historic trade deal but also whipped up massive protests that highlighted the deep political differences between the rivals.

The tour by Mr Chen Yunlin - the most senior Chinese official to visit the island since it broke away from the mainland during a civil war in 1949 - was remarkable because it would have been virtually impossible one year ago, when China-Taiwan relations had hit one of their lowest points.

But Beijing decided to send Chen to Taiwan now that the island is being ruled by a government that wants friendlier relations with China. The result of the envoy's five-day trip was a trade agreement that drastically boosted transport ties between the rivals.

The two sides also agreed to hold high-level meetings every six months. They said the next round will focus on banking issues - an urgent topic in the wake of the global financial meltdown.

As he left for the airport, Mr Chen declared that his visit was a big success for relations across the Taiwan Strait.

'We have completed the mission that people across the strait have long desired,' he said.

During his visit, Mr Chen was careful to avoid prickly political issues, such as Beijing's unwavering demand that Taiwan must eventually unify with the mainland. The issue has derailed past efforts to set up peace talks. Most Taiwanese favor the status quo, de facto independence.

In his departing remarks, Mr Chen noted that much more work needs to be done to improve ties.

'We believe the future road is long, but we will deal with it and face up to this and that difficulty,' he said.

Mr Chen also thanked the thousands of police who were deployed in the capital, Taipei, to protect him. In a possible dig at the protesters, Chen assured the Taiwanese that if they visit China, they will see 'harmony everywhere'.

Hundreds of protesters took to the streets daily to protest Mr Chen's visit. On Wednesday, they surrounded a hotel where he was having dinner and blocked him from leaving until well after midnight.

Many favoured Taiwanese independence and opposed closer ties with China. Others were angry about the heavy police presence in Taipei, saying the island had become a police state like China.

Demonstrators also clashed with police on Thursday when Mr Chen met briefly with Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou.

Although relatively rare in China, such protests are common in Taiwan's raucous democracy. When Mr Ma's Nationalist Party lost the presidential election in 2004, an angry crowd of hundreds trashed offices at the Central Election Commission and camped out for days outside the Presidential Office.

Despite the protests, Chen's Taiwanese counterpart, Mr Chiang Pin-kung, said the public supported Mr Chen's visit and the new trade deal.

'Our efforts weren't wasted,' Mr Chiang said at the Chinese envoy's departure ceremony. 'We will continue to strive for our ultimate goal of peace across the strait and a win-win economic situation.'

Mr Chiang noted that polls in two of Taiwan's biggest newspapers on Friday said that the public was pleased with Chen's visit.

One survey by the mass-market United Daily News found that 52 per cent approved of the meeting, while 18 per cent viewed it negatively. The rest had no opinion or thought the effect would be negligible.

The newspaper said the telephone survey, conducted on Thursday, involved 863 adults and the margin of error was 3.2 percentage points.

Mr Yang Kai-huang, a China expert at Taipei's Ming Chuan University, said it was too early to say how the visit would affect China-Taiwan detente.

'The closer contacts could be positive in that people might want closer political ties,' he said. 'Or they could be negative if people realize the gap between the two sides is too large.' -- AP