Taiwan opposition leader Lien Chan arrived in China for a historic visit Tuesday following violent protests in Taipei by pro-independence Taiwanese who accused him of selling out to the mainland.

Lien was given a red-carpet welcome in the eastern city of Nanjing by the head of the Communist Party's Taiwan Office Chen Yunlin and leaders of the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office as well as leading party officials from Jiangsu province.

It is the first visit by a Kuomintang chairman to the mainland since it lost a civil war to the communists and fled to Taiwan in 1949.

Lien said he was ``honored and happy'' and would ``cherish'' his time in China.

He said he would use the visit to improve relations across the Taiwan Strait.

``Concerning the common future of the two sides of the straits and how we can reach a future of mutual benefit and a peaceful win-win situation, it is an issue that everyone is concerned about,'' he said at the airport.

``The delegation of the Kuomintang hopes to reach the goal of a peaceful and stable cross-strait relationship and we will work towards this.

``We really hope that people from all walks of life will also strive for this.''

Because there have been no regular direct flights between the mainland and Taiwan since they split in 1949, Lien and his 70-strong KMT delegation arrived in Nanjing, China's capital when the KMT was in power, from Hong Kong.

As Lien left Taipei, hundreds of pro-independence protesters opposed to the visit clashed with his supporters inside the airport.

Several hundred broke into the departure hall and clashed with up to 100 of Lien's supporters, throwing eggs, stones and other projectiles.

Some wrestled with each other while others fought with sticks and let off firecrackers.

Several people were injured, including at least two men whose heads were covered in blood.

Hundreds of baton-wielding riot police jostled with crowds inside the airport terminal in an attempt to keep the two sides apart.

Lien is due to meet President Hu Jintao in Beijing Friday during his controversial eight-day ``peace journey'' which will also take him to his birthplace, Xian, and the commercial center of Shanghai. It will be the first meeting between the heads of the KMT and the communists since Mao Zedong met Chiang Kai-shek in Chongqing in 1945 to negotiate an end to the civil war.

Analysts said Beijing will use the visit to try to woo Taiwanese people and remind them of the benefits of accepting Beijing's stance that the island belongs to China and should be reunified with the mainland.

Taiwan's independence-leaning President Chen Shui-bian has reversed his earlier criticism of the trip, reportedly under pressure from Washington.

But Taiwan's China policy decision-making body, the Mainland Affairs Council, Monday warned Lien not to risk breaking the law by engaging in state-related negotiations or signing agreements with Beijing. AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE