The man, Liu Bo-yan of central Taiwan, poured fuel on himself and then set himself alight. Firefighters found him alive and sent him to a hospital for treatment, a department official said.

Fire investigators are examining the incident near the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Plaza in downtown Taipei, where a group of students have been staging anti-government demonstrations for the last six days.

A United Evening News photograph showed him on the ground with flames rising a metre above his body, except for his lower legs, as a bystander poured water on him from a bottle.

A representative of the student group, which is protesting the government's ties with China and Taiwan's law on demonstrations, told the newspaper that the man came with a leaflet saying the ruling party had 'ruined' him for 30 years. -- REUTERS